MSR Resolution 8/18/08(Redlined)

Report to the Amador Local Agency Formation Commission Public Review DraftFinal Amador County Municipal Services Review: Exhibit A - Determinations Burr Consulting July 14August 18, 2008 Burr Consulting 612 N. Sepulveda Blvd, Suite 8 Los Angeles, CA 90049 (310) 889-0077 www.burrconsulting.com TABLE OF CONTENTS MSR DETERMINATIONS ........................................................................................................................................... 2 GENERAL ....................................................................................................................................................................... 2 FIRE & EMS .................................................................................................................................................................. 5 WATER .......................................................................................................................................................................... 8 WASTEWATER ............................................................................................................................................................. 12 CITY OF AMADOR ....................................................................................................................................................... 15 CITY OF IONE .............................................................................................................................................................. 17 CITY OF JACKSON ....................................................................................................................................................... 20 CITY OF PLYMOUTH .................................................................................................................................................... 24 CITY OF SUTTER CREEK .............................................................................................................................................. 27 AMADOR FIRE PROTECTION DISTRICT ....................................................................................................................... 29 AMADOR RESOURCE CONSERVATION DISTRICT .................................................................................................... 3130 AMADOR WATER AGENCY ..................................................................................................................................... 3231 DRYTOWN COUNTY WATER DISTRICT ....................................................................................................................... 34 FIDDLETOWN COMMUNITY SERVICES DISTRICT .................................................................................................... 3635 IONE MEMORIAL DISTRICT ......................................................................................................................................... 37 JACKSON VALLEY FIRE PROTECTION DISTRICT ......................................................................................................... 38 JACKSON VALLEY IRRIGATION DISTRICT ................................................................................................................... 39 LOCKWOOD FIRE PROTECTION DISTRICT ................................................................................................................... 41 PINE ACRES COMMUNITY SERVICES DISTRICT .......................................................................................................... 42 PINE GROVE COMMUNITY SERVICES DISTRICT .......................................................................................................... 43 RABB PARK COMMUNITY SERVICES DISTRICT ....................................................................................................... 4544 RANCH HOUSE ESTATES COMMUNITY SERVICES DISTRICT ................................................................................... 4645 RIDGEWOOD ACRES COMMUNITY SERVICES DISTRICT ......................................................................................... 4746 RIVER PINES PUBLIC UTILITY DISTRICT ................................................................................................................. 4847 SUNSET HEIGHTS COMMUNITY SERVICES DISTRICT .............................................................................................. 5049 SUTTER CREEK FIRE PROTECTION DISTRICT .............................................................................................................. 51 TOWNSHIP NUMBER TWO PUBLIC CEMETERY DISTRICT ........................................................................................... 52 VOLCANO COMMUNITY SERVICES DISTRICT ............................................................................................................. 53 WILLOW SPRINGS WATER DISTRICT .......................................................................................................................... 55 COUNTY SERVICE AREA 1 ...................................................................................................................................... 5655 COUNTY SERVICE AREA 2 .......................................................................................................................................... 56 COUNTY SERVICE AREA 3 ...................................................................................................................................... 5756 COUNTY SERVICE AREA 4 .......................................................................................................................................... 57 COUNTY SERVICE AREA 5 .......................................................................................................................................... 58 COUNTY SERVICE AREA 6 .......................................................................................................................................... 59 COUNTY SERVICE AREA 7 .......................................................................................................................................... 60 COUNTY SERVICE AREA 8 .......................................................................................................................................... 60 BY BURR CONSULTING i AMADOR COUNTY MSR: EXHIBIT A – PUBLIC REVIEW DRAFT M S R D E T E R M I N AT I O N S This chapter sets forth recommended findings with respect to the following service-related evaluation categories based upon this review of municipal services for Amador County: 1) Growth and population projections for the affected area; 2) Present and planned capacity of public facilities and adequacy of public services, including infrastructure needs or deficiencies; 3) Financial ability of agencies to provide services; 4) Status of, and opportunities for shared facilities; 5) Accountability for community service needs, including governmental structure and operational efficiencies; and 6) Any other matter related to effective or efficient service delivery, as required by commission policy. LAFCO is required to identify governance options; however, LAFCO is not required to initiate changes and, in many cases, is not empowered to initiate these options. LAFCO is required by the State to act on SOI updates. The Commission may choose to recommend governmental reorganizations to particular agencies in the county, using the spheres of influence as the basis for those recommendations (Government Code §56425 (g)). GENERAL ADEQUACY OF PUBLIC SERVICES • While public sector management standards do vary depending on the size and scope of an organization, there are minimum standards. Well-managed organizations evaluate employees annually, prepare a budget before the beginning of the fiscal year, conduct periodic financial audits to safeguard the public trust, maintain current financial records, periodically evaluate rates and fees, plan and budget for capital replacement needs, conduct advance planning for future growth, and make best efforts to meet regulatory requirements. • Most of the professionally managed and staffed agencies implement many of these best management practices. Many of the smaller special districts serving the area are staffed by board members or volunteers, and do not implement such practices. • LAFCO encourages all local agencies to conduct timely financial record-keeping and make financial information available to the public. 2 PREPARED FOR AMADOR LAFCO MSR DETERMINATIONS GROWTH AND POPULATION PROJECTIONS • Since the 2000 Census, the countywide population has grown by eight percent, from 35,100 to 37,943 at the beginning of 2008. • Sutter Creek exhibited the most growth from 2000 to 2008, at 26 percent overall. Over the same period, the City of Jackson grew by eight percent, the City of Amador grew by six percent, the City of Plymouth grew by five percent, and the City of Ione grew by four percent. The population of unincorporated Amador County grew by eight percent from 2000 to 2008. • All cities in Amador County exhibited no growth—or negative growth—from 2007 to 2008. • More residential building permits have been issued in unincorporated Amador County since 2000 than in all five cities combined. • The County is primarily agricultural, with 198,764 acres of farmland in 2006. There were 93,702 acres of farmland protected by the Williamson Act in 2005, including 5,311 acres of prime Williamson Act farmland. Since 2000, the acreage of non-prime Williamson Act farmland has decreased by nearly three percent, but the acreage of prime Williamson Act farmland has decreased by only one-fifth of one percent. • Job growth in Amador County from 1998 to 2008 has generally been healthier than statewide job growth. • The jobs-housing balance in Amador County is 0.7, which is slightly higher than other neighboring counties. • The level of taxable sales per capita in the City of Jackson exceeds that of unincorporated Amador County and the other four cities. • The taxable sales growth rate has decreased dramatically in the Cities of Jackson and Sutter Creek from 2004 to 2007, compared to unincorporated Amador County. • There are 52 53 proposed and planned residential developments in Amador County. The developments propose a total of 8,398 994 dwelling units and over 500 acres of non- residential development. The population would grow to 53,07658,635 if all existing currently proposed and planned development in the County occurmaterialize. • The California Department of Finance projects a countywide population of 47,593 by 2020 and 54,788 by 2030. FINANCIAL ABILITY OF AGENCIES TO PROVIDE SERVICES • Municipal service providers are constrained in their capacity to finance services by the inability to increase property taxes, requirements for voter approval for new or increased taxes, and requirements of voter approval for parcel taxes and assessments used to finance BY BURR CONSULTING 3 AMADOR COUNTY MSR: EXHIBIT A – PUBLIC REVIEW DRAFT services. Municipalities must obtain majority voter approval to increase or impose new general taxes and two-thirds voter approval for special taxes. • Limitations on property tax rates and increases in taxable property values are financing constraints. Property tax revenues are subject to a formulaic allocation and are vulnerable to State budget needs. Agencies formed since the adoption of Proposition 13 in 1978 often lack adequate property tax financing. • Financing opportunities that require voter approval include special taxes such as parcel taxes, increases in general taxes such as utility taxes, sales and use taxes, business license taxes, and transient occupancy taxes. Communities may elect to form business improvement districts to finance supplemental services, or Mello-Roos districts to finance development-related infrastructure extension. Agencies may finance facilities with voter-approved (general obligation) bonded indebtedness. • Financing opportunities that do not require voter approval include imposition of or increases in fees to more fully recover the costs of providing services, including user fees and development impact fees to recover the actual cost of services provided and infrastructure. Development impact fees and user fees must be based on reasonable costs, and may be imposed and increased without voter approval. Development impact fees may not be used to subsidize operating costs. Agencies may also finance many types of facility improvements through bond instruments that do not require voter approval. • Water and wastewater rates and rate structures are not subject to regulation by other agencies. Utility providers may increase rates annually, and often do so. Generally, there is no voter approval requirement for rate increases, although notification of utility users is required. Water and wastewater providers must maintain an enterprise fund for the respective utility separate from other funds, and may not use revenues to finance unrelated governmental activities. ACCOUNTABILITY FOR COMMUNITY SERVICE NEEDS • Accountability is best ensured when contested elections are held for governing body seats of local agencies. With contested elections, local voters have the opportunity to ensure accountability among their elected officials. • The County, the cities of Ione and Jackson, YCWA, BVID, and the fire districtsEBMUD demonstrated a high degree of public participation in elections as well as other forms of citizen participation. • Interest in governing body membership is relatively low among many of the special districts serving the MSR area, and uncontested elections are common. Cemetery and most irrigation district board members are appointed, which limits accountability. Accountability is constrained by limited interest among citizens in serving on the governing bodies. • CSA accountability is limited, as there is no formal mechanism for local control or input. The CSAs lack a communication vehicle for constituents to inform the County on issues pertaining to services in the community. The County Public Works Department manages 4 PREPARED FOR AMADOR LAFCO MSR DETERMINATIONS the CSAs, and has not developed a new communication approach after dissolving road committees in the communities. Any CSA property owner may contact the County CSA coordinator for service requests. • Local agencies that conduct constituent outreach promote accountability and ensure that constituents are informed and not disenfranchised. The County, the cities and the larger special districts make information about their activities available to the public through a variety of sources, including Internet websites, distribution of agenda and related documents, public access to city council and board meetings, mailing information to constituents, and similar methods. Among the smaller districts, public outreach efforts were typically informal, if conducted at all. • Public agency operations and management should be transparent to the public. Government Code §56378 requires that local and State agencies provide information requested by LAFCOs. LAFCO was unable to obtain needed information from some agencies. GOVERNMENTAL STRUCTURE AND OPERATIONAL EFFICIENCIES • Elimination of unnecessary local governments or inadequate service providers should be pursued with sensitivity to retaining local accountability. • Local agencies must obtain LAFCO approval to alter boundaries, to serve territory outside their boundaries and to provide new services. FIRE & EMS CAPACITY AND INFRASTRUCTURE NEEDS • Regional infrastructure needs include an equipment upgrade to reduce interference from Sutter County on the countywide secondary radio frequency. According to federal requirements, Amador County fire providers must upgrade to narrow bandwidth radios by 2013, which is anticipated to rectify the issue. • Amador County Sheriff Dispatch needs to upgrade its equipment to identify a caller’s location when phoning from a cell phone. While CALFIRE dispatches all fire providers, the Sheriff’s Office transmits essential location information to CALFIRE. Such an upgrade would enhance speed and efficiency of dispatch and response. • Overall, the agencies have the capacity to provide service to the current level of demand with existing facilities. Needed increased capacity is being addressed by four new stations, which are planned in Ione, AFPD and SCFPD. • Agencies anticipate that any additional needs for fire facilities to address increased demand as a result of development and growth will be addressed on a case-by-case basis with the developers. A majority of the special districts (with the exception of KMPUD) have not developed fire master plans to adopt an overall plan which mitigates projected growth. BY BURR CONSULTING 5 AMADOR COUNTY MSR: EXHIBIT A – PUBLIC REVIEW DRAFT ADEQUACY OF PUBLIC SERVICES • All fire providers under LAFCO jurisdiction rely primarily on call firefighters. Each of the providers is striving to transition to paid firefighter service (i.e., staffed stations); however, financing constraints have severely limited the ability of the agencies to hire staff. • Ione FD, Sutter Creek FPD and Jackson FD provide service to substantial AFPD territory outside their bounds. Each provider serves a six mile radius beyond the bounds of the respective city. As a result, response times to the outside areas are longer than inside the cities, and there is a lack of backup for incidents within the cities when the agencies are called to provide automatic aid. • Additional paid staffing is necessary to improve response times, reduce ISO ratings and begin providing urban fire service levels in high-density areas, such as Jackson, Sutter Creek Martell, Plymouth and Ione. • All fire providers in Amador County did not meet NFPA and CPSE fire response guidelines. • Due to the expansive size of the districts, rough terrain in some areas, and reliance on call firefighters, JVFPD and LFPD reported the longest response times. • American Legion Ambulance did not meet response time standards for areas in and around Ione and along SR 88 in the upcountry. • Providers should focus on firefighter retention strategies to reduce separation rates and minimize training time of new hires. • 34 percent of call firefighters countywide meet State certification requirements of Firefighter I. A potential improvement could be made in the various agencies’ training schedules to promote certification in a shorter time period. Providers could also increase compensation or impose stricter attendance policies to ensure turnout at training sessions. • All fire agencies practice adequate financial planning by performing regular audits, adopting annual budgets and keeping up-to-date financial records. GROWTH AND POPULATION PROJECTIONS • Service calls for fire and emergency medical providers have been increasing and are expected to continue growing as a result of population growth. • Temporary population increases in parts of the County, due to tourism and recreational visitors, creates a peak demand for fire and emergency services seasonally and on weekends. • Growth in demand will be affected by the availability of alternative services like primary care and telephone based service, and demand management practices, such as better fire prevention training, fire code improvements, and building rehabilitation. 6 PREPARED FOR AMADOR LAFCO MSR DETERMINATIONS • The wildland interface areas—where structures and development meet or intermingle with undeveloped wildland or vegetative fuel—are expanding as more people are building homes in such areas, which will increase demand for effective fire service. FINANCIAL ABILITY OF AGENCIES TO PROVIDE SERVICES • The financial ability of each of the agencies to provide services is constrained by available revenues and legal limitations on revenue increases. • Each of the agencies (Ione, Jackson, AFPD, JVFPD, KMPUD, LFPD, and SCFPD) reported an unfunded need for full or part-time paid staffing. • Providers have been proactive in finding new revenue sources such as CFDs, a proposed ½ cent sales tax measure, and the transfer of Proposition 172 funds from the County. With these funds, the agencies hope to fund full-time staffing at a few stations throughout the County. • Providers should evaluate and update assessments and development impact fees on a regular basis to ensure that they are achieving cost recovery. Assessments will require fewer updates if adjusted annually for inflation. • Rural districts, such as JVFPD and LFPD, have relatively low densities that do not yield adequate revenues to transition from unstaffed to staffed stations. Even with the anticipated additional revenues, these agencies will only be able to fund part-time paid staffing at best, unless they can collaborate with other providers to pool resources. STATUS OF, AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR, SHARED FACILITIES • Fire and EMS providers in Amador County rely extensively on each other for mutual and automatic aid assistance and CALFIRE through the Amador Plan to optimize response times. • Jurisdictions throughout the County achieve communication efficiencies by relying on CALFIRE for dispatching. • The fire and EMS providers in Amador County practice extensive facility sharing, including jointly operated stations, law enforcement and ambulance substations in the fire stations, sharing of training facilities and specialized equipment, and sharing of space with other organizations for meetings. • Ione, Jackson, AFPD, LFPD, JVFPD, SCFPD and CALFIRE benefit from enhanced collaboration and planning activities through the Amador Fire Protection Authority. • Future opportunities for facility sharing proposed by the providers include consolidation of fire service providers, further access to station space for outside organizations, countywide training facilities, and access to CALFIRE training at the CALFIRE Academy in Ione. BY BURR CONSULTING 7 AMADOR COUNTY MSR: EXHIBIT A – PUBLIC REVIEW DRAFT ACCOUNTABILITY FOR COMMUNITY SERVICE NEEDS • Ione, Jackson, AFPD, and KMPUD demonstrated accountability based on the measures of contested elections, constituent outreach efforts and disclosure practices. • Each of the providers fully cooperated with the MSR process and responded to all requests for information. Notably, KMPUD was unable to provide its 90th percentile response times, and JVFPD did not provide its development impact fees or update schedule. • JVFPD and LFPD have not had sufficient governing body and constituent interest to hold a contested election at least since 1995. • All of the providers, with the exception of SCFPD, attempt to inform constituents through outreach activities. GOVERNMENTAL STRUCTURE AND OPERATIONAL EFFICIENCIES Governmental structure options for fire service include the potential for several variations of consolidation. • Providers in Amador County may benefit from consolidation by improving efficiency and minimizing duplication of resources and efforts. Specific examples of cost saving opportunities are the closing of redundant station, the elimination of surplus staff, the selling of surplus vehicles, and the elimination of extra training facilities and equipment. • Although consolidation would be expected to generate economies of scale, it is not expected to substitute for financing of target service levels. • Legal options for consolidation include a newly formed fire district with an independently elected board, consolidation of providers into AFPD, and formation of a joint powers authority for provision of fire service. • Geographic approaches to consolidation include consolidation of urban, rural or all county providers. WATER CAPACITY AND INFRASTRUCTURE NEEDS • A majority of the providers presently have capacity to serve existing connections. AWA’s Lake Camanche system, Plymouth, and EBMUD suffer from groundwater basin overdraft and are in the process of transferring to surface water for a dependable water source. JVID does not have water supplies or a distribution system to serve its entire area. VCSD is currently analyzing its water source capacity for current and future connections. 8 PREPARED FOR AMADOR LAFCO MSR DETERMINATIONS • AWA’s CAWP and Lake Camanche systems lack adequate water supplies to serve future growth, and need additional water supplies and interties to the AWS system. AWA has applied for a portion of JVID’s water rights to meet CAWP needs. • The AWS system lacks adequate water supplies to serve projected growth by 2030. An option AWA is considering for increasing water supply is to acquire additional water rights from JVID, and provide recycled water to JVID. • JVID does not have adequate water supplies to serve its entire boundary area. Future water supply is uncertain. JVID lacks storage rights to Mokelumne River water, and AWA has applied for reversion of a portion of those rights. Its Jackson Creek supply declined after the Amador Canal was piped and tertiary effluent supplied by the City of Jackson is vulnerable. • Groundwater overdraft has occurred in the Lake Camanche and Plymouth areas. Declining groundwater yields have been reported in Volcano CSD, the Drytown CWD vicinity and the JVID vicinity. Groundwater contamination and risks have been identified in the Ione area, associated with concerns about wastewater disposal capacity. Evaluation of groundwater resources is needed. • EBMUD does not use all of its Mokelumne River water rights, but projects that its supply will decrease in the future due to senior water rights and increased instream flow requirements, and that supply will not meet its customers’ needs during droughts. • Potential sources of future water supply include recycled water, and water rights and associated storage facilities on the Mokelumne or Cosumnes rivers. • AWA’s Tanner, Ione and Camanche systems, the cities of Jackson and Plymouth, FCSD, and River Pines PUD need additional water storage to ensure adequate water supplies during periods of shortage. • The AWA CAWP system, the City of Ione, PGCSD, RPCSD, and RPPUD have pressure or fire flow deficiencies. • Several providers reported a need to replace aged or undersized pipelines. Many providers would benefit from an overall assessment of their distribution system to identify and prioritize replacement needs. ADEQUACY OF PUBLIC SERVICES • The water facilities of the AWA Tanner, Ione, Buckhorn and La Mel systems, Jackson, KMPUD, PGCSD, and RPCSD were found to be well operated and maintained. The AWA Lake Camanche system, Plymouth, FCSD, and RPPUD have significant operational or infrastructure deficiencies. DCWD, FCSD and VCSD have not had recent site inspections by the County and would benefit from an updated overall assessment. BY BURR CONSULTING 9 AMADOR COUNTY MSR: EXHIBIT A – PUBLIC REVIEW DRAFT • The providers generally complied with water contaminant limits and monitoring and reporting requirements. Plymouth, Fiddletown CSD, and River Pines PUD should make efforts to ensure better compliance records. • There is substantial reliance on groundwater in the County, but a lack of information on groundwater usage and future irrigation needs. A regional groundwater management plan would be beneficial. • Fiddletown CSD relies on a single water well. Volcano CSD’s primary source has been unstable in the past, and its backup source does not produce enough water to serve the community. Neither community is connected to other water systems through interties. Water reliability is enhanced when there is an adequate backup water supply. • Most agencies practice adequate financial planning by performing regular audits, adopting annual budgets and keeping up-to-date financial records. FCSD should consider adopting annual budgets and beginning periodic financial audits to improve operational efficiencies. • Professionally staffed agencies generally implemented best management practices with regard to capital improvement planning and advanced growth planning. DCWD, FCSD, JVID, KMPUD, RPCSD, RPPUD and VCSD would benefit from formal capital improvement planning and, if applicable, facility and capacity planning for projected growth. GROWTH AND POPULATION PROJECTIONS • The City of Plymouth, Lake Camanche Village area and Volcano CSD lack adequate water supplies for short-term growth. • Growth is projected to outpace existing water supplies in the AWS system by 2030, and additional water supplies will be needed to accommodate further growth. • Water loss rates are significant in the City of Plymouth, Drytown CWD and AWA CAWP systems. Losses in the Fiddletown CSD and JVID systems are unknown. Improvements to distribution systems would help reduce the need for scarce surface water resources. • Comprehensive analysis of demand is a recommended practice. Comparison of projected demand growth to both regional and local demographic and economic forecasts also helps ensure responsible planning of adequate water for future growth. • Agencies are encouraged to implement conservation best management practices to promote water use efficiency. Metering water connections can reduce demand by around 30 percent. AWA could reduce water use by expediting completing installation of meters. Increased use of recycled water for landscaping purposes would reduce the amount of potable water used. Requirements that installed landscaping be climate-appropriate and drought-tolerant would reduce water needs. 10 PREPARED FOR AMADOR LAFCO MSR DETERMINATIONS FINANCIAL ABILITY OF AGENCIES TO PROVIDE SERVICES • For the most part, the water providers demonstrated financial ability to provide adequate services. RPCSD and VCSD would benefit from additional revenue sources to finance future capital replacement costs that are not covered by the current rates. • Given the need to improve service adequacy and a lack of funds for existing capital financing needs, current financing levels are inadequate for Plymouth, DCWD, FCSD, and RPPUD. These providers may benefit from an evaluation and update of their rates and fees and improved efficiency. • KMPUD and JVID have not updated their rates in at least 15 years. These agencies may want to consider updating their rates to ensure adequate financing levels. • The FCSD, KMPUD and RPCSD connection fees are well below the countywide median. These agencies may wish to review their connections fees to ensure adequate capital financing for future growth. STATUS OF, AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR, SHARED FACILITIES • A majority of the water purveyors practice extensive facility sharing by purchasing wholesale water from the AWA treatment and conveyance facilities and contracting with AWA for maintenance services. In addition, EBMUD distributes water to JVID via its Pardee Reservoir facilities. • There are several opportunities for future facility sharing of water facilities, including a joint water treatment plant between AWA, EBMUD and Calaveras County Water District, the AWA and Plymouth pipeline, an intertie between the AWA and EBMUD system in the Lake Camanche area, and the proposed substitution of recycled water for a portion of JVID’s water rights by AWA. ACCOUNTABILITY FOR COMMUNITY SERVICE NEEDS • AWA, Jackson, Plymouth, EBMUD, JVID, KMPUD, and VCSD demonstrated accountability based on the measures of contested elections, constituent outreach efforts and disclosure practices. • Each of the providers fully cooperated with the MSR process and responded to all requests for information. • Accountability is more limited in DCWD, FCSD, PGCSD, and RPCSD where governing body members are appointed and contested elections do not occur. DCWD, RPCSD, and RPPUD could improve public interest in district activities by promoting constituent outreach activities. BY BURR CONSULTING 11 AMADOR COUNTY MSR: EXHIBIT A – PUBLIC REVIEW DRAFT GOVERNMENTAL STRUCTURE AND OPERATIONAL EFFICIENCIES • Annexation of extraterritorial service areas is an option that would promote logical boundaries. Providers that are providing service outside of their boundaries include Jackson, Plymouth, FCSD, JVID, RPPUD, and VCSD. • Rabb Park CSD is considering consolidation with AWA. • Willow Springs Water District and CSA 1 2 are inactive agencies. Dissolution of these inactive agencies is the logical government structure option. The Cortese-Knox-Hertzberg Act provides for streamlined dissolution of agencies for failure to exercise corporate powers. • An option is to formalize the transfer of the County Service Areas from the County to AWA through LAFCO. • Jackson and AWA have overlapping service areas in the Martell community. Accountability for service needs could be enhanced by clarification of the service areas through LAFCO. • DCWD and PGCSD have expressed interest in annexing planned and proposed developments outside of their boundaries. • DCWD has been approached by areas adjacent to the District with declining well yields. If the District determines that service to the area is not cost prohibitive, then annexation of these parcels is an option. • In order to promote utilization of recycled water, an option is to create a special district to coordinate recycled water production and use in the County and five cities. WASTEWATER CAPACITY AND INFRASTRUCTURE NEEDS • The City of Jackson, KMPUD and River Pines PUD wastewater flows are presently within the capacity of their wastewater treatment and disposal systems. • Wastewater treatment or disposal capacity is absorbed in the cities of Amador, Ione and, Plymouth, and Sutter Creek, the communities of Lake Camanche Village, Martell and Gayla Manor, and at Mule Creek State Prison. In the cities of Amador and Sutter Creek and the community of Martell, remaining capacity is limited. The respective providers need to expand or replace wastewater facilities to accommodate anticipated growth. • The cities of Ione and Sutter Creek need additional treatment capacity to serve proposed and planned developments within their spheres. 12 PREPARED FOR AMADOR LAFCO MSR DETERMINATIONS ADEQUACY OF PUBLIC SERVICES • The cities of Ione and Sutter Creek plan to upgrade to tertiary treatment to comply with current or anticipated regulatory requirements. The City of Plymouth plans to upgrade to secondary treatment to comply with current or anticipated regulatory requirements. • The City of Ione tertiary plant, Kirkwood Meadows PUD, River Pines PUD, and Preston Youth Correctional Facility appear to make best efforts to achieve regulatory compliance, having had no enforcement actions taken between 2005 and 2008. • The cities of Ione and Plymouth, Mule Creek State Prison, and Preston Youth Correctional Facility are operating under cease and desist orders. Enforcement actions were taken between 2005 and 2008 against the cities of Amador, Ione, Jackson, Plymouth, and Sutter Creek, AWA, and recreation areas served by EBMUD and JVID’s Lake Amador concessionaire. • The cities of Ione and Jackson complied with effluent quality standards 100 percent of the time in 2007. Amador City, AWA, the City of Plymouth and Mule Creek State Prison complied 95 percent of the time. The City of Sutter Creek faced significant challenges in complying with standards, and plans to construct a new WWTP to achieve compliance. • The wastewater collection system at Mule Creek State Prison is generally in good condition. The Sutter Creek, Plymouth, EBMUD recreation areas, KMPUD and Preston Youth Facility collection systems suffer from significant infiltration and inflow problems, and major sections need to be rehabilitated. Aging sewers in Ione and Jackson need improvements. • The City of Plymouth and River Pines PUD lack certified wastewater operators, and contract with AWA for services. River Pines PUD staff does not have the staff ability or contract with AWA to conduct collection system inspections. Fiddletown CSD relies on uncertified volunteers for occasional maintenance. • Only Ione and Sutter Creek have comprehensively inspected their systems; providers are encouraged to inspect a portion of their systems annually. • The City of Jackson and Mule Creek State Prison had the highest rate of sewer overflows per 100 miles of collection system in 2007 compared to the other providers. The City and the prison need to improve performance to meet new regulatory standards. GROWTH AND POPULATION PROJECTIONS • Demand for wastewater services is affected directly by population and economic growth, water conservation efforts, and groundwater infiltration and inflow. • Proposed dwelling units in the planned and proposed developments outside of designated wastewater providers’ SOIs will increase future flows. BY BURR CONSULTING 13 AMADOR COUNTY MSR: EXHIBIT A – PUBLIC REVIEW DRAFT FINANCIAL ABILITY OF AGENCIES TO PROVIDE SERVICES • The City of Jackson and Fiddletown CSD need rate increases to finance existing capital needs. The City of Jackson connection fee does not appear adequate to finance future growth-related facility needs. • The cities of Ione and Plymouth, Fiddletown CSD and River Pines PUD need rate increases to fund appropriate service levels. • In small, outlying wastewater service areas, existing rates are relatively high, and AWA reports rates are inadequate. The Agency’s wastewater-related financial reserves were negative in FY 06-07, for areas other than Martell. •Ione, Jackson, Plymouth and Sutter Creek, and Current financing levels are not adequate to deliver target service levels • The cities of Ione, Plymouth, and Sutter Creek, ARSA and AWA need considerable funding to finance WWTP plants or major upgrades. Growth rates and timing will determine the availability of connection fee revenue to finance these capital needs without debt financing. The providers may access bond markets to borrow the needed capital on the security of future revenue. • The County lacks the financial ability to serve the Fiddletown CSD system, as it receives none of the sewer rate revenue collected by the CSD. STATUS OF, AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR, SHARED FACILITIES • The City of Sutter Creek, on the one hand, and AWA, on the other hand, both aim to develop wastewater treatment facilities intended to serve each other. Both seek to operate the new facility. AWA aims to produce and distribute recycled water to JVID from a new Martell plant to enhance long-term water supplies. Both Sutter Creek and Jackson have declined to participate in AWA’s new plant due to concern about future pumping costs. Facility-sharing policy solutions would need to address both fiscal issues and long-term water supply needs. • The City of Ione aims to upgrade and expand its tertiary treatment plant, and to share costs with Mule Creek State Prison. • AWA and EBMUD are considering a joint treatment facility for the Lake Camanche area. • A potential equipment and personnel sharing opportunity may be the sharing of closed circuit television (CCTV) and trained personnel between the various providers. CCTV equipment is a significant investment. By sharing the equipment, agencies could reduce costs. 14 PREPARED FOR AMADOR LAFCO MSR DETERMINATIONS ACCOUNTABILITY FOR COMMUNITY SERVICE NEEDS • The cities of Ione, Jackson, Plymouth, and Sutter Creek, and AWA, EBMUD and KMPUD demonstrated accountability based on the measures of contested elections, constituent outreach efforts and disclosure practices. • Fiddletown CSD has had little governing body and constituent interest as demonstrated by a lack of contested elections. • Amador City and RPPUD could improve constituent outreach activities. GOVERNMENTAL STRUCTURE AND OPERATIONAL EFFICIENCIES • In addition to the previously discussed governance and facility-sharing options, the following governmental structure options were identified for wastewater services. • Annexation of extraterritorial service areas is an option that would promote logical boundaries. Providers that are providing service outside of their boundaries include Jackson, Plymouth, FCSD, and RPPUD. • The City of Sutter Creek and AWA have different visions for future treatment facilities. AWA relies on City treatment facilities and ARSA disposal facilities, but is not a member of ARSA. Governance options include AWA inclusion in ARSA, and formation of an independent special district to succeed ARSA. • Neither Amador County nor FCSD is effectively serving the Fiddletown area. Transfer of the Fiddletown sewer system to the CSD, to AWA, and to a newly formed CSA are potential governance options to ensure adequate service levels in the community. • The AWA boundary area and potential wastewater service area overlaps with unserved growth areas in and near the SOIs of the cities of Ione, Jackson, Plymouth and Sutter Creek. A governance option is to establish a limited service SOI for AWA wastewater services so that city SOIs may be incrementally expanded without conflicting with AWA. • Each of the cities has suggested SOI expansions that would include new growth and development in adjacent areas. SOI expansions and annexation of such areas are governance options. CITY OF AMADOR GROWTH AND POPULATION PROJECTIONS • The population of Amador City grew from 196 in 2000 to 208 in 2008, an increase of six percent. With build-out of the existing city limits, the population would reach 230, an increase of six percent. At build-out of all possible developments in the vicinity, the area population would reach 268, an increase of 24 percent. BY BURR CONSULTING 15 AMADOR COUNTY MSR: EXHIBIT A – PUBLIC REVIEW DRAFT • For wastewater planning purposes, the City projects the population will reach 346 by 2028. Sewer projections by ARSAWA forecast that the Amador City population may reach 300 by 2015 and 350 by 2020. CAPACITY, INFRASTRUCTURE NEEDS AND SERVICE ADEQUACY • Wastewater treatment service levels are presently inadequate; however, the City of Sutter Creek and ARSA plan improvements to provide the capacity needed to accommodate growth and meet regulatory requirements. • The wastewater collection system, pump station and/or force main may need to be modified or improved in the future to accommodate anticipated growth. • The City reported that its most significant challenge relates to sewer operations. The City struggles to keep up to date on State mandates and to set adequate but manageable rates. • Roadway capacity and drainage is sufficient, and maintenance is adequate. No unfunded needs or deficiencies were reported for roadway infrastructure, including roadside drainage. • The City has a ratio of 2.4 acres of developed parkland per 1,000 residents, which is lower than the current countywide parkland ratio of 7.3 acres per 1,000 residents. The countywide goal for parkland is 13.7 acres per 1,000 residents. • The Amador County Regional Recreation Plan recommends that the City acquire and develop a new five-acre neighborhood park, with amenities including a small multi-purpose sport field, a picnic area and a pathway system. The acquisition cost is estimated at approximately $1 million. • The City reported that cemetery plots are available at Oak Knoll Cemetery, but did not provide an indication of remaining capacity, or the number of recent burials. There is no remaining capacity at Amador Pioneer Cemetery. FINANCIAL ABILITY OF AGENCIES TO PROVIDE SERVICES • The City reported that its current financing level is adequate to deliver services, but reported that wastewater regulatory mandates and fees present a challenge. • The ability of the City to provide cemetery services is constrained due to a lack of financing. Neither cemetery owned by the City is professionally maintained on a regular basis, with the exception of weed spraying twice a year at Oak Knoll Cemetery. Maintenance of cemetery grounds is performed on a volunteer basis only. STATUS OF, AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR, SHARED FACILITIES • Amador City shares water and wastewater facilities and resources by contracting with AWA for water services and the City of Sutter Creek for wastewater treatment services. 16 PREPARED FOR AMADOR LAFCO MSR DETERMINATIONS • The City does not practice sharing of facilities for roadway and drainage maintenance or cemetery service, and did not identify any possible opportunities. • Amador City is a member of the Amador County Recreation Agency, which provides countywide recreation programming and facilitates collaborative planning efforts. ACCOUNTABILITY, GOVERNANCE AND EFFICIENCIES • Accountability is best ensured when contested elections are held for governing body seats, constituent outreach is conducted to promote accountability and ensure that constituents are informed and not disenfranchised, and public agency operations and management are transparent to the public. The City generally demonstrated accountability for community service needs; however, the office hours of the city clerk, the City’s primary ombudsman, are limited to four hours per week. • Operational efficiencies are achieved in the provision of park maintenance through the use of volunteers for supplemental park maintenance as well as recreation services. The City also relies on volunteers to perform grounds maintenance at the cemeteries. • Accountability for community service needs is limited in regard to cemetery service, as the City was unable to provide the number of vacant plots available at Oak Knoll Cemetery. CITY OF IONE GROWTH AND POPULATION PROJECTIONS • The City of Ione population, including prisoners, grew from 7,129 in 2000 to 7,416 in 2008, an increase of four percent. The residential population grew from 2,898 in 2000 to 3,526 in 2008, an increase of 22 percent. • There are eleven twelve planned and proposed developments located within the existing boundary and SOI of the City. Seven projects with submitted applications involve 899 Counting the nine projects with development estimates available, there would be 4,367 total dwelling units. Five projects that have not yet submitted applications involve another 2,569 dwelling units. If all of these projects should materialize, at build-out (2,872 new dwelling units plus 1,495 existing dwelling units in 2008, according to the Department of Finance). Tthis would amount to aincrease the population of to approximately 10,76312,265, an increase of 205 248 percent over the 2008 (non- institutional) population. • The City’s 1989 general plan land use element anticipates 3,500 equivalent dwelling units at build-out. This would amount to a population of 8,820, or an increase of 150 percent over the 2008 (non- institutional) population. • Wastewater flow projections for the City of Ione forecast growth of over 200 percent from 2005 to 2015, 400 percent from 2005 to 2025, and 1,340 percent at build-out. BY BURR CONSULTING 17 AMADOR COUNTY MSR: EXHIBIT A – PUBLIC REVIEW DRAFT CAPACITY, INFRASTRUCTURE NEEDS AND SERVICE ADEQUACY • Existing wastewater storage and disposal capacity is insufficient to meet existing demand or to accommodate anticipated growth. • The City’s aged secondary WWTP needs extensive modifications to pumping, treatment, storage, and disposal facilities to expand its capacity and achieve regulatory compliance. Additional reclaimed water users are needed to expand disposal capacity. • Wastewater services appear to be adequate based on overflow rates, peak flows, response times and planning efforts. The City has faced challenges in meeting regulatory requirements in the past, and needs to improve its wastewater facilities to meet requirements. • Infrastructure needs for the Fire Department include several water distribution system repairs and replacements to improve fire flow and emergency reserves, as well as a more versatile ladder truck and a replacement engine. • The City anticipates addressing future fire capacity needs for the short-term with its new station, which is under construction. The City plans to use development impact fees to finance future capacity needs. • Ione FD’s training program has been particularly successful. The City has the highest percentage of firefighters meeting State certification requirements. • Ione PD’s crime clearance rates are slightly higher than other those of providers in the County, and its response times are comparable to the Jackson and Sutter Creek Police Departments. • The Ione PD conducts operations from offices located within City Hall; however, it reports that a separate station is needed, to provide increased office space, a briefing room, holding facilities, and a locker room. • The City reports that road maintenance is adequate, and that no city-maintained roads operate at less than the established level of service threshold. One-half mile of roadway is in need of rehabilitation, less than four percent of the entire city-maintained roadway network. • A major infrastructure need identified by the City is the Interim West BypassWestern Ione Roadway connecting SR 104 and SR 88, to route traffic around downtown Ione. • The City reports that drainage infrastructure improvements are planned on East Main Street and on Jackson and Sacramento Streets. Drainage is a particular problem in the area bounded by Main Street, SR 104, Washington, SR 88, and El Dorado Street. In addition, storm drain improvements are needed at City street intersections with SR 104 and SR 124. • The City has a ratio of almost 26.4 acres of parkland per 1,000 residents (excluding the institutional population). This is higher than the current countywide parkland ratio of 7.3 acres per 1,000 residents and exceeds the countywide goal of 13.7 acres of parkland per 1,000 residents. 18 PREPARED FOR AMADOR LAFCO MSR DETERMINATIONS • The City has identified numerous park infrastructure needs at the various city-maintained parks, including parking improvements, exterior lighting, fence repairs, bathrooms, picnic tables, play equipment, improvement to sports fields and facilities, new landscaping, and improved drainage. FINANCIAL ABILITY OF AGENCIES TO PROVIDE SERVICES • The City reports that financing is adequate to deliver services, but is not ample enough to provide the fire protection and wastewater service levels the City administration desires. Specifically, the City reported an unfunded need for full-time paid firefighters. • The City’s wastewater rates have not been increased to keep pace with inflation for four years. To maintain adequate service levels in the future, the City should evaluate and increase rates on a regular basis. • The City has established a capital projects fund to construct a new police station. Construction will be dependent on funding, and is projected to begin by 2010. • The City did not report any major financing constraints to the provision of roadway services. The Interim West BypassWestern Ione Roadway is projected to cost approximately $24 million, and be funded in part with Amador County traffic mitigation fees. • The City reports that it is able to maintain its current parks adequately; however, as park facilities are added and expanded the City must improve its capabilities to maintain and manage the park facilities. STATUS OF, AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR, SHARED FACILITIES • The City practices extensive wastewater facility sharing by treating and disposing a portion of wastewater flows originating in Sutter Creek, Amador City, and Martell and at Mule Creek State Prison. The City needs to expand recycled water use to increase its disposal capacity. Otherwise, the extent of facility sharing is expected to decline in the future, as ARSA plans to develop disposal capacity east of Ione. • The Ione Fire Department currently collaborates to a large degree with other fire service providers in the County through aid agreements and the AFPA. There is an opportunity for the Ione FD to collaborate further with nearby Jackson Valley FPD to pool financing resources and share paid staff. • The City is a member of the Amador County Recreation Agency, which provides countywide recreation programming and facilitates collaborative planning efforts. Facilities are shared with the Amador County School District, as the City funds and operates the pool facility at Ione Junior High School and ACRA provides the lifeguards. Additionally, the City shares facilities at Howard Park, as it contains the regional soccer facilities for the County. • The City identified opportunities for shared facilities including allowing the Amador County School District to use three-acres of Howard Park for expansion of Ione Elementary School, BY BURR CONSULTING 19 AMADOR COUNTY MSR: EXHIBIT A – PUBLIC REVIEW DRAFT and additional collaboration with ACRA for the provision of programs at Howard Park and at other city-owned facilities. • The City does not practice facility sharing for roadway and drainage maintenance, and did not identify any possible opportunities. ACCOUNTABILITY, GOVERNANCE AND EFFICIENCIES • Accountability is best ensured when contested elections are held for governing body seats, constituent outreach is conducted to promote accountability and ensure that constituents are informed and not disenfranchised, and public agency operations and management are transparent to the public. The City of Ione demonstrated accountability with respect to all of these factors. • The City achieves accountability by evaluating employee performance on an annual basis. In addition, new employees also receive three- and six-month reviews. • The City has made interim improvements in wastewater capacity by cleaning its wastewater ponds, and has collaborated with ARSA, AWA and Mule Creek State Prison to reduce their wastewater flows so that capacity is available for local uses. • The City is presently planning new wastewater facilities to accommodate growth and meet regulatory requirements. Timely clarification of its future service area through SOI update will help ensure efficient facility planning for future needs. • The Ione FD maximizes operational efficiencies and minimizes cost by capitalizing on call firefighters and volunteer staff. • The City of Ione Police Department received the California Law Enforcement Challenge Award for Sworn Officers in 2007 and 2008. • The 2008 City of Ione Strategic Plan identifies the finalizing of a parks maintenance plan as a goal for the City. CITY OF JACKSON GROWTH AND POPULATION PROJECTIONS • The City of Jackson population grew from 3,989 in 2000 to 4,319 in 2008, an increase of eight percent. The City of Jackson’s general plan forecasts a 2025 population of 6,108, an increase of 41 percent over the 2008 population for the City. The general plan estimate is based on the build-out of 985 planned and proposed dwelling units that existed as of 2004. • At build-out of current planned and proposed development within the City, there will be 759 new dwelling units, yielding a population increase of approximately 1,520. The City’s total 20 PREPARED FOR AMADOR LAFCO MSR DETERMINATIONS population at build-out would be 5,789839, an increase of 354 percent over the 2008 population. • Wastewater flow projections for the City of Jackson forecast population growth of seven percent from 2005 to 2015, 22 percent from 2005 to 2025, and 340 percent at build-out. CAPACITY, INFRASTRUCTURE NEEDS AND SERVICE ADEQUACY • Water distribution capacity is adequate to serve the boundary area; however, portions of the water service area outside City bounds would require distribution infrastructure to be served. • Water services appear to be adequate based on water quality, response times, inspection ratings, and the City’s regulatory record. The City needs to expand water storage to enhance emergency preparedness. • Wastewater treatment capacity is adequate to serve projected growth through 2025, but a new plant will be needed to accommodate build-out growth. The adequacy of wastewater disposal capacity is uncertain due to conflicting regulatory pressures related to its discharge of treated wastewater to Jackson Creek. Depending on the outcome, the City may need to develop new facilities in the future. • Wastewater services appear to be adequate based on the City’s regulatory record; however, the City needs to make improvements to its collection system to reduce peak flows and sewer overflows. • The Jackson police facility is in poor condition, and needs additional space and improvements. • Police services appear to be adequate based on response times and crime clearance rates. Additional police officers will be needed to serve future growth. • The Jackson Volunteer Fire Department does not have the capacity to serve planned development at the current level of service due to staffing and facility constraints. • The Fire Department needs expanded facilities, including dormitories and a meeting and training room, as well as a new fire station to store modern apparatus. The City reported a need for multiple vehicles, of which one is budgeted for in FY 07-08. • The Fire Department provides adequate service based on response times, as it has the shortest response times on average of the seven providers. • Existing roadway capacity is generally adequate, although some roads operate at LOS “D,” which is less than the City’s adopted standard. Some segments of SR 49 and SR 88 maintained by Caltrans within the City of Jackson presently operate at an unsatisfactory level of service (LOS “E” or “F”). The City anticipates that segments of Court Street and North Main Street will operate at LOS “D” by 2025. BY BURR CONSULTING 21 AMADOR COUNTY MSR: EXHIBIT A – PUBLIC REVIEW DRAFT • There are approximately 10 miles of roadway in need of rehabilitation, representing over 35 percent of all city-maintained roads. • Circulation is limited by land constraints. SR 49 and SR 88 bring significant traffic through Jackson; however, these highways are located in narrow corridors surrounded by hillsides and historic properties, making lane widening or expansion projects infeasible. Bypass alternatives have been rejected by city residents. • Drainage infrastructure deficiencies reported by the City include four miles of open ditch that need to be piped, and a variety of existing culverts (approximately two to three miles) that need to be replaced. • The City has a ratio of 5.8 acres of parkland per 1,000 residents, which satisfies the City’s adopted standard of five acres per 1,000 residents, but is short of the countywide goal for parkland of 13.7 acres per 1,000 residents. • The City owns a 155-acre undeveloped site that is planned to be used as a future park. • The City reported that plots are available at Jackson City Cemetery, but did not provide an indication of remaining capacity. There are eight acres of land owned by the City that are available for expansion of the cemetery. FINANCIAL ABILITY OF AGENCIES TO PROVIDE SERVICES • The City reports that financing is not adequate to deliver services. The key fiscal challenge is a significant decrease in sales tax revenue related to the 2007 loss of three businesses, including an auto dealer, to the adjacent unincorporated Martell area north of the City. Economic development and redevelopment are strategies for restoring financial viability. • The City’s water and wastewater rates have not been increased to keep pace with inflation for four years. To maintain adequate service levels in the future, the City should evaluate and increase rates on a regular basis. • The City reported that revenues are inadequate to provide desired public safety service levels, including full-time staffed fire stations. The City is considering financing mechanisms to improve fire protection service levels in collaboration with AFPA. • The Fire Department’s development impact fee has not been updated since 2002. The City should consider updating its fire development impact fee to ensure sufficient facility financing to address increased demand as a result of planned and proposed developments. • The City reported that its primary challenge for street maintenance is a lack of funding; however, there is an annual increase of approximately $18,000 in Proposition 42 funding due to a larger allocation to cities, which began in 2008. • Drainage infrastructure and maintenance are financed through the City’s general fund. The City reports it has submitted grant applications for funding to correct additional flood areas. 22 PREPARED FOR AMADOR LAFCO MSR DETERMINATIONS • The City did not report any limitations to its ability to provide park service or cemetery maintenance. The City has established an endowment fee of $50 for all plot types to provide perpetual care of the cemetery facility. STATUS OF, AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR, SHARED FACILITIES • The City practices facility related to water services by receiving water from AWA’s Tanner treatment plant. • The Fire Department currently collaborates to a large degree with other fire service providers in the County and the AFPA. • The Jackson Fire Department is negotiating consolidation or collaboration with AFPD and SCFPD to address urban fire needs in the Jackson, Sutter Creek and Martell areas focused on paid firefighter staffing. • The City does not practice facility sharing for roadway and drainage maintenance or cemetery service, and did not identify any possible opportunities. • The City is a member of the Amador County Recreation Agency (ACRA), which provides countywide recreation programming and facilitates collaborative planning efforts. The City works with ACRA to develop recreation programs to serve Jackson residents. The City also shares facilities with ACRA’s youth summer programs, as it allows the use of parkland at no cost. ACCOUNTABILITY, GOVERNANCE AND EFFICIENCIES • Accountability is best ensured when contested elections are held for governing body seats, constituent outreach is conducted to promote accountability and ensure that constituents are informed and not disenfranchised, and public agency operations and management are transparent to the public. The City of Jackson demonstrated accountability with respect to all of these factors. • Employee accountability is achieved through annual reviews conducted by supervisors, and six-month reviews for new employees. • Jackson provides water, wastewater and fire services outside its bounds. Annexation of such service areas is a government structure option. • There are overlapping water service areas in the Martell community. AWA and the City of Jackson provide water retail services within the Martell area. The AWA water service area overlaps the City of Jackson’s water service area, which had transferred to the City from a private company. Although AWA’s water service area does not overlap the City of Jackson’s existing SOI, there is a lack of clarity on water service areas. • The Jackson FD maximizes operational efficiencies and minimizes cost by capitalizing on call firefighters and volunteer staff. BY BURR CONSULTING 23 AMADOR COUNTY MSR: EXHIBIT A – PUBLIC REVIEW DRAFT • The City presently serves an expansive fire service area outside its bounds. Annexation of the City of Jackson to a regional fire provider, such as AFPD, is a government structure option. • The City pursues efficiencies through the efficient use of technology, such keeping computerized cemetery records to simplify record retrieval and plot location. • Operational efficiencies in cemetery service are also achieved through the use of volunteers for maintenance activities. High school students and boy scouts have repaired and rebuilt a gazebo on the property and are working to rehabilitate several grave sites. CITY OF PLYMOUTH GROWTH AND POPULATION PROJECTIONS • The City of Plymouth population grew from 980 in 2000 to 1,033 in 2008, an increase of five percent. At build-out of the projects located within the City’s existing boundssphere, the population would be 3,213177, an increase of 211 208 percent over the 2008 population. Build-out of all projects in the vicinity would add an additional 302 residents. • The City’s land use plan for the proposed SOI in the general plan update would accommodate a population of 5,572, an increase of 439 percent over the 2008 population. • Wastewater flow projections for the City forecast population growth from 2005 to 2015 of 55 percent, 109 percent from 2005 to 2025, and 600 percent from 2005 to build-out. CAPACITY, INFRASTRUCTURE NEEDS AND SERVICE ADEQUACY • The City lacks adequate water supplies, and water storage capacity; however, a planned pipeline and storage improvements would address these deficiencies. • Water services are not presently adequate due to insufficient supplies, and a treatment facility in poor condition; however, these deficiencies will be addressed by a planned pipeline. • The water distribution system is subject to a relatively high water loss rate. The City was unable to provide information on the extent of the system (pipe miles). The City needs to evaluate and correct deficiencies in its distribution system. • Wastewater services are not presently adequate due to a relatively low service level (primary treatment and minimal planning), and a collection system with heavy peak flows and structural defects. The City’s regulatory compliance record has been inadequate. Services and related planning could be improved. • To accommodate proposed growth within the existing SOI, the City needs to upgrade to an aerated lagoon treatment system (at a cost of $1.0-1.5 million). To provide wastewater capacity to future growth within the SOI proposed by the City, the City would need to 24 PREPARED FOR AMADOR LAFCO MSR DETERMINATIONS upgrade to a secondary treatment process, and expand spray fields and reservoirs (at an estimated cost of $10-15 million). • Existing roadway capacity is adequate, as all city-maintained roads operate at a satisfactory level of service. However, the City anticipates some roadways will decline to an unsatisfactory level of service at build-out. • There is a significant backlog of deferred roadway maintenance. The City reports that approximately 5.8 miles of roadway are in need of rehabilitation, or nearly 83 percent of all city-maintained roadways. • The capacity of drainage infrastructure is severely limited. The city engineer reports that the drainage system is old, in poor condition, and is not functioning well. Once the City fixes its drainage system, the weak system at the fairgrounds (maintained by the County) will be overloaded and in need of rehabilitation. • When the City’s building moratorium is lifted and development begins, the City will require additional drainage infrastructure to meet the increased demand. • The City has a ratio of 28.3 acres of parkland per 1,000 residents, which is significantly higher than the current countywide parkland ratio of 7.3 acres per 1,000 residents, as well as the countywide goal for parkland of 13.7 acres per 1,000 residents. • The City seeks to increase the municipal park standard to meet the National Recreation and Park Association recommended standard of 6.25 to 10.50 acres of mini-, neighborhood and community parks per 1,000 persons. Of these types of parkland, the City’s ratio is 0.29 acres per 1,000 residents. • The Plymouth Cemetery is reaching capacity, as the City reports that there are approximately 30 plots available. Thirty-six burials have taken place since 2000, with approximately four per year in the last two calendar years. The City anticipates that all remaining plots are likely to be occupied within five to seven years. • The City reports that some cemetery plots are starting to deteriorate, with bricks crumbling and falling in some locations. The City’s Cemetery Board has attempted to contact families through the Amador County Cemetery Board to alert them of needed repairs, but this has yielded little success. FINANCIAL ABILITY OF AGENCIES TO PROVIDE SERVICES • The City reported that current financing is insufficient to deliver adequate services, and that economic development and growth are needed to improve service levels. The City’s only funding source for police protection is the annual COPS grant. The City’s general and public works functions are understaffed. The City’s planning, engineering and financial functions are staffed by consultants. BY BURR CONSULTING 25 AMADOR COUNTY MSR: EXHIBIT A – PUBLIC REVIEW DRAFT • Although Plymouth reported sufficient financing to provide water services, analysis of service adequacy indicates that an assessment and update of rates, fees and efficiency may be necessary to improve service levels for the City. • Roadway maintenance is constrained by a lack of funding. The City reports it does not have the funds to maintain even its highest priority streets, and it would take a one-time expenditure of $3 million to address the backlog of deferred maintenance. • Rehabilitation and reconstruction of the City drainage system is estimated to cost at least $1.3 million. • The City reports that it has the financial ability to provide park services for both the existing service area and for future growth areas. • The financial ability of the City to provide cemetery maintenance is limited. Routine maintenance is performed by the City on an occasional basis, with the City relying on volunteers for additional maintenance. There are no fees to be buried at the cemetery; however, burials are restricted to those that are descendents of a historical Plymouth family. • Minimal cemetery repairs are occasionally funded through the Amador County Cemetery Board. STATUS OF, AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR, SHARED FACILITIES • The City does not practice facility sharing for water services, roadway and drainage maintenance, or cemetery service, and did not identify any possible opportunities. • Plymouth is a member of the Amador County Recreation Agency, which provides countywide recreation programming and facilitates collaborative planning efforts. • Future facility sharing opportunities include the planned Plymouth and AWA pipeline to bring treated water to the City. ACCOUNTABILITY, GOVERNANCE AND EFFICIENCIES • Accountability is best ensured when contested elections are held for governing body seats, constituent outreach is conducted to promote accountability and ensure that constituents are informed and not disenfranchised, and public agency operations and management are transparent to the public. The City of Plymouth demonstrated accountability with respect to all of these factors. • The City evaluates its performance by conducting a strength-weakness-opportunities-threats (SWOT) analysis on a quarterly basis. The City reported that its accomplishments include solving its annual post-fair mosquito problem. 26 PREPARED FOR AMADOR LAFCO MSR DETERMINATIONS • Operational efficiencies are achieved in the provision of cemetery maintenance through the use of probationers and volunteers for maintenance activities in addition to those provided by the City. • Cemetery service lacks sufficient safeguards for authorization of burials. The City reports that in recent years unauthorized burials have taken place in the Plymouth Cemetery. CITY OF SUTTER CREEK GROWTH AND POPULATION PROJECTIONS • The City of Sutter Creek population grew from 2,303 in 2000 to 2,902 in 2008, an increase of 26 percent. At build-out of current planned and proposed development within the City, there will be 1,602 new dwelling units, amounting to a population increase of approximately 3,420 new residents. Total population would be 6,150 322 at build-out, an increase of 1182 percent over the 2008 population. • Wastewater flow projections for the City forecast population growth from 2005 to 2015 of 178 percent, 248 percent from 2005 to 2025, and 357 percent from 2005 to build-out. CAPACITY, INFRASTRUCTURE NEEDS AND SERVICE ADEQUACY • The wastewater treatment plant is aged and lacks sufficient capacity to accommodate anticipated growth in the next 5-15 years; however, a new tertiary WWTP is planned for 2010. • Wastewater service levels are presently inadequate; however, the City and ARSA plan improvements to provide the capacity needed to accommodate growth and meet regulatory requirements. Wastewater planning efforts are comprehensive. • Law enforcement service levels appear to be adequate based on response times, crime clearance rates and staffing levels. The City has adequate police facilities, but reported it would need new facilities to accommodate anticipated growth in the next 5-10 years. • The City reported that roadway capacity is adequate, as no roads operate below the established level of service threshold. The City engineer predicts that Ridge Road at SR 49 will operate at LOS “D” at build-out, below the established threshold of LOS “C.” • Nearly six miles of roadways are in need of rehabilitation, amounting to 31 percent of all city-maintained roadways. • An upcoming roadway infrastructure need reported by the City is the construction of an eastern bypass around Sutter Creek. The project need will depend on development timing, and the project will be developer-funded. BY BURR CONSULTING 27 AMADOR COUNTY MSR: EXHIBIT A – PUBLIC REVIEW DRAFT • Drainage infrastructure throughout the City generally requires improvement. The IRWMP identifies a storm drain diversion project in downtown Sutter Creek as a necessary infrastructure improvement; the project is funded and scheduled for construction in 2009. Since 1980, there have been at least four riverine flooding events in the City. • The City has a ratio of 1.4 acres of parkland per 1,000 residents, excluding the undeveloped area at Eureka Mine and Erickson Ranch. If the undeveloped area is included, there are 8.669 acres of parkland per 1,000 residents. By comparison, the current countywide parkland ratio is 7.3 developed acres per 1,000 residents, and the countywide goal for parkland is 13.7 developed acres per 1,000 residents. • The City’s 1994 General Plan identified a need for several parks in the region, including acquiring a new regional park, a community park, neighborhood parks, a linear parkway, a recreational trail, and a bicycle and pedestrian trail network. ACRA’s Master Plan also recommended that the City acquire and develop a new 10-15 acre community park. • The City reported that there are plots available for purchase at the Sutter Creek City Cemetery, but did not indicate the number of plots available. Only City current residents or previous residents may purchase a plot. FINANCIAL ABILITY OF AGENCIES TO PROVIDE SERVICES • The City reports that financing is not adequate to deliver services. The key fiscal challenge is a significant decrease in sales tax revenue to the Martell area since 2006. Specifically, the City identified a need for more economic development. • The City reports that the major roadway service challenge it faces will be the construction of an eastern bypass around the City, due to the high cost of the project. However, the project is expected to be development-driven and funded. •Funding for the storm drain diversion project identified in the IRWMP has not yet been identified, and was estimated to cost $0.5 million (in 2006 dollars). • The City reports financing constraints as a limiting factor in providing increased park services, but did not indicate whether cemetery services are constrained by a lack of available funding. STATUS OF, AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR, SHARED FACILITIES • The City practices extensive wastewater facility sharing by treating flows originating in Amador City and Martell, sharing disposal facilities with Mule Creek State Prison, and relying on disposal facilities operated by the City of Ione. • The City and AWA have opportunities to share new wastewater facilities and reap economies of scale; however, opportunities appear to be limited by divergent plans. 28 PREPARED FOR AMADOR LAFCO MSR DETERMINATIONS • The City is a member of the Amador County Recreation Agency, which provides countywide recreation programming and facilitates collaborative planning efforts. The City reports that it opted to participate in ACRA in order to provide organized recreational activities that otherwise could not be provided. • The City does not practice facility sharing for roadway and drainage maintenance, or cemetery service, and did not identify any possible opportunities. ACCOUNTABILITY, GOVERNANCE AND EFFICIENCIES • Accountability is best ensured when contested elections are held for governing body seats, constituent outreach is conducted to promote accountability and ensure that constituents are informed and not disenfranchised, and public agency operations and management are transparent to the public. The City of Sutter Creek generally demonstrated a high degree of accountability through its constituent outreach efforts and disclosure of informationwith respect to these factors; however, public interest in governing body membership is relatively low as evidenced by the lack of contested elections for the City Council in the last five years. • Employee accountability is achieved through reviews on a semi-annual basis. • The City provides wastewater, police and fire services outside its bounds. Annexation of such service areas is a government structure option. • The City’s wastewater facilities serve the adjacent Martell community where significant growth is anticipated. The City would like this area to be annexable. • The City is conducting interim wastewater improvements to enhance capacity and reduce flows in the short-term. • The City is presently planning new wastewater facilities to accommodate growth and meet regulatory requirements. Timely clarification of its future service area through SOI update will help ensure efficient facility planning for future needs. • Accountability for community service needs is limited in regard to cemetery service, as the City was unable to provide the number of vacant plots available at the Sutter Creek City Cemetery. AMADOR FIRE PROTECTION DISTRICT GROWTH AND POPULATION PROJECTIONS • There has been significant recent growth in the AFPD boundary area, particularly in the community of Martell. • Growth is expected to continue in Martell, as well as the greater Ione area and Plymouth due to multiple proposed and planned developments. BY BURR CONSULTING 29 AMADOR COUNTY MSR: EXHIBIT A – PUBLIC REVIEW DRAFT CAPACITY, INFRASTRUCTURE NEEDS AND SERVICE ADEQUACY • AFPD currently does not have capacity to serve its entire boundary and relies heavily on other providers for automatic aid in exchange for minimal reimbursement. • AFPD plans to expand it capacity with two planned new stations in Martell and Pine Grove to address current and anticipated growth in those areas. • Infrastructure needs include installation of a wireless network system at each of the stations, and six new vehicles. The District has plans to purchase all of these by 2011, with the exception of an aerial apparatus, due to financing constraints. • Response times could be improved in the City of Plymouth, where AFPD exceeds the California EMS guidelines. • AFPD could improve its Firefighter I certification rate of 21 percent. FINANCIAL ABILITY OF AGENCIES TO PROVIDE SERVICES • The District reported that the existing service level with call firefighter staffing is inadequate, and that an additional financing source is needed in the AFPD boundary area and for other providers serving the AFPD areas. • The District may require increased revenues to finance future facilities to address development. The District’s development impact fee was last updated in 1991 by the County and is currently the lowest of the seven providers. STATUS OF, AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR, SHARED FACILITIES • AFPD collaborates with other fire providers in the County through membership in AFPA, extensive automatic aid and mutual aid agreements, and the Amador Plan agreement with CALFIRE. • Opportunities for future facility sharing include the use of the future Martell training facilities as a joint training facility for all County fire providers. ACCOUNTABILITY, GOVERNANCE AND EFFICIENCIES • AFPD demonstrated accountability and transparency by disclosing financial and service related information in response to LAFCO requests. • AFPD hopes to improve operational efficiency through enhance connectivity between the various AFPD stations once the wireless network is installed. A governmental structure option is consolidation of AFPD, the City of Jackson and SCFPD. These providers are contemplating consolidation. 30 PREPARED FOR AMADOR LAFCO MSR DETERMINATIONS AMADOR RESOURCE CONSERVATION DISTRICT GROWTH AND POPULATION PROJECTIONS • Recent growth has been moderate in unincorporated Amador County, with significant growth anticipated as planned and proposed developments are approved and begin construction. • The amount of farmland in Amador County declined by 13 percent between 1992 and 2006. CAPACITY, INFRASTRUCTURE NEEDS AND SERVICE ADEQUACY • The District does not own or maintain any public facilities, and has no infrastructure needs or deficiencies. • The District provides various resource conservation services to groups and individuals in Amador County and surrounding areas. FINANCIAL ABILITY OF AGENCIES TO PROVIDE SERVICES • The District reported that the current financing level from the County is not adequate to deliver services. The District depends on grant awards and services to other agencies (i.e., bookkeeping) to collect revenues. STATUS OF, AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR, SHARED FACILITIES • The District shares current office space in the County Agriculture Building. The District will share its new office space with NRCS in Jackson. • The District collaborates with several agencies through JPAs, regional organizations and other agreements. ACCOUNTABILITY, GOVERNANCE AND EFFICIENCIES • The District maintains a website that outlines the purpose and function of the RCD, and contains contact information for the District. • The District is amenable to serving a larger portion of Calaveras County, but reported that Calaveras County has not expressed interest. • Operational efficiencies have been achieved through the use of volunteer efforts for many services. BY BURR CONSULTING 31 AMADOR COUNTY MSR: EXHIBIT A – PUBLIC REVIEW DRAFT AMADOR WATER AGENCY GROWTH AND POPULATION PROJECTIONS • The population within the AWA boundary area grew from 35,100 in 2000 to 37,943 in 2008, an increase of eight percent. The population within AWA’s water service areas was approximately 20,000. • If built, planned and proposed developments would add approximately 5,3808,237 units to the AWS water service area and 360 units to the CAWP water service area. By implication, population would increase by 182,577465 and 82034 in the respective water service areas. • Within its wastewater service area, flows are projected to increase fifteen-fold through build- out, primarily due to anticipated growth in the Martell area. • Within its water service area, demand is projected to increase by 88 percent through 2030. By comparison, the California Department of Finance projects population growth of 44 percent over the same period. Countywide growth of 556 percent is anticipated based on currently planned and proposed developments. CAPACITY, INFRASTRUCTURE NEEDS AND SERVICE ADEQUACY • AWA has minimally adequate capacity to provide service to existing water connections. The Ione and Tanner treatment plants lack treatment capacity for anticipated growth. The CAWP and Lake Camanche systems lack adequate source capacity to serve additional development. • AWA faces challenges due to deteriorating infrastructure and a lack of adequate source capacity in the Camanche water system. • Water services in the AWS, CAWP, and La Mel Heights service areas were identified as generally adequate with well operated and maintained systems. • Water infrastructure needs include improvements to the aged and undersized distribution system in CAWP system, expansion of the Tanner treatment plant, significant improvements to the Lake Camanche distribution system, as well as additional water sources for the area. • Wastewater services appear to be adequate based on overflow rates, peak flows, response times, and planning efforts. The Agency could improve upon it treatment effectiveness, which is below the industry average. • Wastewater infrastructure needs include additional treatment capacity and source control in the Martell area, additional storage and disposal capacity in the Lake Camanche and Gayla Manor areas, and reduction of backwash from the three water treatment plants. No collection system infrastructure needs or deficiencies were identified. 32 PREPARED FOR AMADOR LAFCO MSR DETERMINATIONS FINANCIAL ABILITY OF AGENCIES TO PROVIDE SERVICES • The Agency reported that financing is adequate to deliver services to the AWS, CAWP, Lake Camanche, and La Mel water systems. Due to anticipated challenges related to deteriorating infrastructure in the Lake Camanche area, rates should by reviewed to ensure continued adequate financing. • AWA reported that financing is adequate to provide wastewater services to the Martell wastewater system, but funding is inadequate in the other wastewater systems. Wastewater- related financial reserves were negative for systems other than Martell in the most recent fiscal year and rates have not been increased since 2006. STATUS OF, AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR, SHARED FACILITIES • The Agency practices extensive facility sharing of its water treatment plants and major pipelines with other water purveyors. In addition, the Agency shares staff, equipment and materials with other purveyors through contract services. With regard to wastewater services, facility sharing practices and collaboration efforts include discharging to ARSA treatment facilities, financing of a regional wastewater study, and collaboration with EBMUD on joint solutions to wastewater capacity needs in the Lake Camanche area. • The Agency identified four opportunities for future facility sharing of water infrastructure 1) consolidation of the Tanner and Ione treatment plants 2) a shared regional water treatment plant with EBMUD and CCWD in the Lake Camanche area, 3) sharing of the Plymouth Pipeline with the City of Plymouth, and 4) an intertie with the EBMUD system. • There are two competing opportunities for wastewater facility sharing in the Martell area. AWA plans to construct a tertiary wastewater treatment facility in Martell. The City of Sutter Creek and ARSA plan to construct a new wastewater treatment facility in Sutter Creek. Both plans are aimed at a consolidated wastewater treatment plant to serve all providers in the area. ACCOUNTABILITY, GOVERNANCE AND EFFICIENCIES • AWA demonstrated a high degree of accountability through its constituent outreach efforts and disclosure of information. • Accountability is somewhat constrained by limited interest in serving on the governing body, as indicated by occasionally contested elections. • Local accountability is limited by the large, countywide nature of the District. Constituents within AWA water and wastewater service areas do not exercise as much local control through the election process as in smaller districts. County residents outside AWA water and wastewater service areas participate in elections. • Many small districts rely on AWA to some extent for contract maintenance services or wholesale water service. Many of these districts face some challenges in terms of service adequacy. A service option for such districts is to transfer services to AWA with subsequent BY BURR CONSULTING 33 AMADOR COUNTY MSR: EXHIBIT A – PUBLIC REVIEW DRAFT dissolution by LAFCO. While AWA is open to such an option, it does not actively seek out possible consolidations. Interested districts must approach AWA. For example, Rabb Park CSD had expressed interest in this governance option, and has recently directed that a proposal be submitted to LAFCO. • There are overlapping water service areas in the Martell community. AWA and the City of Jackson provide water retail services within the Martell area. The AWA water service area overlaps the City of Jackson’s water service area, which had transferred to the City from a private company. Although AWA’s water service area does not overlap the City of Jackson’s existing SOI, there is a lack of clarity on water service areas. • AWA is authorized by its principal act to distribute water anywhere in the County, except that its principal act prevents it from restricting or superseding rights or powers of cities and special districts. LAFCO’s authority to clarify AWA service areas is constrained by the countywide nature of its bounds. A governance structure option is to adopt a “limited service SOI” for AWA which excludes established water retail service areas of other agencies. Accountability for community service needs could be enhanced by clarification through the legislature or the courts. • AWA provides wastewater collection services to the Martell community, where ARSA provides wastewater treatment and disposal services. The County continues to represent Martell through ARSA membership, and AWA has not formally joined ARSA in spite of its present reliance on ARSA facilities. ARSA is planning needed capacity improvements, but AWA has reported that it plans to remove Martell from the ARSA system. A governance option to address this instability and planning quagmire is to form an independent special district for wastewater services covering the ARSA service area. • The 2003 transfer of County Service Areas from the County to AWA does not appear to have been approved by LAFCO, as required. A governance option is to retroactively authorize the transfer and appropriate dissolutions. DRYTOWN COUNTY WATER DISTRICT GROWTH AND POPULATION PROJECTIONS • There has been minimal recent growth in the District, and service demand has been relatively stable. • Future growth is expected to be significant due to a new subdivision and a proposed development partially within District bounds, and would double the size of the customer base. • Eight adjacent properties have expressed interest in annexation due to declining well yields, although annexation may not be feasible due to capacity constraints and infrastructure extension costs. 34 PREPARED FOR AMADOR LAFCO MSR DETERMINATIONS CAPACITY, INFRASTRUCTURE NEEDS AND SERVICE ADEQUACY • Pipes are old and in poor condition. The distribution system water loss rate is 20 percent, which is high compared with the industry standard of 10 percent. To minimize distribution losses and reduce the lead level in the water system, the District needs to replace a significant portion of its distribution system. • The District should perform an evaluation of the entire system to prioritize replacement and determine the maximum capacity that can be served with the existing infrastructure. FINANCIAL ABILITY OF AGENCIES TO PROVIDE SERVICES • The existing rate structure does not provide for capital costs associated with ongoing capital replacement needs. • DCWD water rates are the highest amongcomparable to other Amador County water purveyors, and were recently increased. STATUS OF, AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR, SHARED FACILITIES • DCWD relies on AWA for treatment and transmission of treated water through AWA facilities. • There is an opportunity for the District to be connected to a new AWA pipeline to Plymouth as an emergency intertie. ACCOUNTABILITY, GOVERNANCE AND EFFICIENCIES • Accountability to local voters is constrained by a lack of contested elections. Improvements to accountability could be made by emphasizing public outreach activities and promoting interest in participation on the governing body. • Government structure options include annexation of a portion of the proposed Thomas Estate subdivision located outside District bounds. • A government structure option is annexation of adjacent parcels on Varia Ranch Road with declining well yields; however, it may not be cost-effective for the affected parcels to connect to the District’s system and the District may lack the capacity to serve this area. • The District has faced challenges in the past in providing adequate services. The District is not interested in dissolution, as it wishes to retain local control over water services, and is concerned about impacts on water rates if it should be consolidated into AWA. BY BURR CONSULTING 35 AMADOR COUNTY MSR: EXHIBIT A – PUBLIC REVIEW DRAFT FIDDLETOWN COMMUNITY SERVICES DISTRICT GROWTH AND POPULATION PROJECTIONS • Demand has been relatively constant for both water and wastewater services in the last 10 years. • No new connections for wastewater services are anticipated, because the sewer system cannot be expanded. Demand for water services is also expected to remain relatively constant in the near future, as there are no planned or proposed developments within or adjacent to the District’s boundary. CAPACITY, INFRASTRUCTURE NEEDS AND SERVICE ADEQUACY • The existing water and wastewater facilities have the capacity to provide service to the current connections. The water system can accommodate future growth and development. The wastewater system is not expandable and is not intended to serve additional connections. Any significant growth that requires wastewater services would necessitate a new sewer system. • The District is facing challenges in complying with monitoring and reporting requirements for its water system. • The wastewater system is not regularly maintained by FCSD staff (which receives the related rate revenue) or County staff (which owns the facilities). Consequently, there are several deficiencies that have not been corrected since 2006. • The District lacks a general manager, as required by law, to implement board policies. • Water infrastructure needs and deficiencies include a back-up generator at the well for emergency purposes, additional storage capacity, and an overall assessment of the distribution system to identify needs and prioritize repairs. • The Amador County Environmental Health Department identified several wastewater needs and deficiencies in 2006 that have not been rectified to date. Significant needs include replacement of a monitoring well, monitoring of the groundwater to verify no adverse impacts and repair or replacement of three flow monitoring devices. FINANCIAL ABILITY OF AGENCIES TO PROVIDE SERVICES • Although FCSD reported sufficient financing to provide water services, analysis of service adequacy indicates that an assessment and update of rates, fees and efficiency may be necessary to improve service levels for the District and ensure ongoing maintenance and rehabilitation of the water system. The District currently charges the lowest monthly water rates among the water purveyors in Amador County. 36 PREPARED FOR AMADOR LAFCO MSR DETERMINATIONS • As the District does not currently maintain the wastewater system, financing is adequate to provide for billing and insurance related to wastewater services. If and when the District retains ownership of the wastewater infrastructure, existing rate revenue is not anticipated to be sufficient for ongoing maintenance and rehabilitation. STATUS OF, AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR, SHARED FACILITIES • FCSD collects revenues and pays for insurance related to the County-owned sewer system. Collaboration efforts could be improved to ensure County access to the system for regular inspections. • No further facility sharing opportunities were identified. ACCOUNTABILITY, GOVERNANCE AND EFFICIENCIES • The District demonstrated transparency through its cooperation with LAFCO and the MSR process. Accountability to local voters is constrained by a lack of contested elections. Improvements to accountability could be made by promoting interest in participation on the governing body. • The District should consider adopting annual budgets and periodically auditing financial statements to improve operational efficiencies. • FCSD was approved by LAFCO in 2006 to begin wastewater services. A governance structure option is to complete the transfer of ownership of the sewer system from the County to the District to ensure regular monitoring and maintenance by the agency with the related revenue stream. An alternative is to transfer the system to AWA to ensure adequate service levels. Another alternative is to form a County Service Area funded by service charges to operate the Fiddletown wastewater system. IONE MEMORIAL DISTRICT GROWTH AND POPULATION PROJECTIONS • There has been moderate growth in Ione and unincorporated areas in the District. Significant growth is anticipated as planned and proposed developments in and around Ione are approved and begin construction. CAPACITY, INFRASTRUCTURE NEEDS AND SERVICE ADEQUACY • District facilities appear to be in good condition. The District reported no infrastructure needs or deficiencies. • The existing facilities have the capacity to serve present and future probable demand. The District has no plans to expand the facilities. BY BURR CONSULTING 37 AMADOR COUNTY MSR: EXHIBIT A – PUBLIC REVIEW DRAFT FINANCIAL ABILITY OF AGENCIES TO PROVIDE SERVICES • The District has maintained the buildings to adequate levels in the past, and the District has sufficient financial reserves to maintain its buildings and grounds in the future. STATUS OF, AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR, SHARED FACILITIES • IMD practices facility sharing with American Legion Ambulance Service. No facility sharing opportunities were identified. ACCOUNTABILITY, GOVERNANCE AND EFFICIENCIES • Accountability to local voters is constrained by a lack of contested elections. Improvements to accountability could be made by emphasizing public outreach activities and promoting interest in participation on the governing body. • IMD demonstrated accountability and transparency by disclosing financial and service related information in response to LAFCO requests. • No governmental structure options were identified. JACKSON VALLEY FIRE PROTECTION DISTRICT GROWTH AND POPULATION PROJECTIONS • Recent growth has been modest. There will be significant non-residential growth should the Amador County Board of Supervisors approve the proposed Buena Vista Casino ISA. CAPACITY, INFRASTRUCTURE NEEDS AND SERVICE ADEQUACY • The District does not presently have the capacity to serve a proposed casino. However, provisions in the proposed casino ISA would provide the additional infrastructure and staffing needed. • The District provides minimally adequate service given financial and staffing constraints. • Response times could be improved as the District exceeded California EMS standards in the North Camanche Shore area and reported the highest response times among the seven providers. • One of the two JVFPD fire stations has been identified as being in poor condition. Several repairs are needed at both stations. The District does not presently have sufficient resources to fund these repairs. The District also reported a need for a new utility truck. 38 PREPARED FOR AMADOR LAFCO MSR DETERMINATIONS • The District has an out-of-date capital improvement plan that is in need of updating to plan for and finance significant infrastructure needs. FINANCIAL ABILITY OF AGENCIES TO PROVIDE SERVICES • The District reports that the current level of financing is sufficient for volunteer service provision; although, significant capital needs indicate that the current financing level is not adequate to provide services. Funds are insufficient for full-time staffing. • The District should consider updating its assessment, which was adopted in 1999, to ensure recovery of costs. STATUS OF, AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR, SHARED FACILITIES • JVFPD currently collaborates with other fire service providers in the County through the AFPA. There is an opportunity for JVFPD to collaborate further with Ione FD to pool financing resources and share paid staff. • CHP and the Sheriff have access to JVFPD stations as needed. ACCOUNTABILITY, GOVERNANCE AND EFFICIENCIES • JVFPD has not had sufficient governing body interest to hold a contested election in recent years. • The District demonstrates a high degree of public outreach. Several special events are hosted, as well as a fire prevention week. • The JVFPD maximizes operational efficiencies and minimizes cost by capitalizing on call firefighters and volunteer staff. JACKSON VALLEY IRRIGATION DISTRICT GROWTH AND POPULATION PROJECTIONS • There has been minimal growth in the District’s boundary area in recent years. • Service demand has been relatively stable, although there have been annexation requests related to well that have dried out. • Future residential growth is expected to be limited, as there are no planned or proposed developments within the District. • A proposed casino located adjacent to, but just outside of District bounds, would affect the District, if approved. If its proposed groundwater use causes groundwater overdraft, the BY BURR CONSULTING 39 AMADOR COUNTY MSR: EXHIBIT A – PUBLIC REVIEW DRAFT proposed casino would apply to JVID for a water contract. However, the proposed casino is located outside District bounds and the District does not intend to supply it with water. CAPACITY, INFRASTRUCTURE NEEDS AND SERVICE ADEQUACY • JVID does not have adequate water supplies or distribution systems to serve its entire area, and serves about 22 percent of the boundary area. • JVID’s future water supply is uncertain. Although JVID has diversion rights to Mokelumne River water, it lacks storage rights. AWA has applied for reversion of a portion of JVID Mokelumne River rights, and proposes to substitute this with a supply of recycled water. JVID water supply declined after the Amador Canal was piped. The City of Jackson supplies a portion of the JVID water supply in the form of tertiary-treated wastewater effluent; future such supplies depend on decisions of regulatory agencies. The impacts of wastewater effluent on the JVID water supplies should be evaluated. • JVID supplies bottled water to 62 homes that rely on untreated surface water from Lake Amador for domestic water. A planned pipeline would supply Mokelumne River water to a mobile home park and the Lake Amador Recreation Area (LARA) by 2009. • The LARA water treatment system is old and needs to be upgraded, and the system needs additional water storage. • A meter on the District's main line does not function, and needs to be replaced so the District can effectively monitor and report on water use. • The District could improve its operations and service level by preparing a master plan and capital improvement plan. FINANCIAL ABILITY OF AGENCIES TO PROVIDE SERVICES • Financing is sufficient to provide existing services, but does not cover the costs of supplying treated water. STATUS OF, AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR, SHARED FACILITIES • Mokelumne River water is distributed to JVID via EBMUD facilities at Pardee Reservoir. JVID water supplies are affected by City of Jackson wastewater effluent, and potential reversion of Mokelumne River rights to AWA. • AWA is considering substitution of recycled water for a portion of JVID’s Mokelumne River water right. If this should occur, JVID facilities would be shared with AWA for wastewater disposal purposes. 40 PREPARED FOR AMADOR LAFCO MSR DETERMINATIONS ACCOUNTABILITY, GOVERNANCE AND EFFICIENCIES • JVID has sufficient governing body interest to hold occasional contested elections in recent years. • The District’s outreach efforts are limited to mailings prior to board meetings and special notices. • JVID serves areas outside its bounds, including adjacent agricultural uses, a cement factory and a mobile home park, where users do not participate in District elections. A government structure option is annexation of such areas. • JVID does not serve the majority of its boundary area due to inadequate water supplies. A government structure option is detachment of unserved areas. • There are homes served by raw water within the boundary area. An option is expansion of District services to include distribution of treated water. The District’s recreation concessionaire operates a domestic water system. However, the District reported that it opposes this option due to its perception of negative fiscal impacts, limited water supplies and impacts on voting practices. LOCKWOOD FIRE PROTECTION DISTRICT GROWTH AND POPULATION PROJECTIONS • Service demand has not increased due to development or population growth. No developments are planned or proposed in the area. CAPACITY, INFRASTRUCTURE NEEDS AND SERVICE ADEQUACY • The District presently has the capacity to serve the area with its existing facilities. As there is no significant growth planned or proposed within the District’s bounds in the near future, the currently facilities will accommodate service in the short-term. • The District provides adequate services given constrained financing. Among the seven fire providers in the County, the District has the highest sworn staff ratio per capita. • LFPD’s response time is nearing the California EMS rural guideline time; although, the entire District is classified as wilderness. • The District identified several infrastructure needs including three new vehicles, a generator for emergencies, several improvements to the stations and additional water sources. BY BURR CONSULTING 41 AMADOR COUNTY MSR: EXHIBIT A – PUBLIC REVIEW DRAFT FINANCIAL ABILITY OF AGENCIES TO PROVIDE SERVICES • The District operates on a minimal budget, but reported being able to provide an adequate service level. Additional funds are necessary to hire and equip any additional call firefighters and purchase major apparatus needed in the future. • The District should consider updating its assessment and ensuring the assessment adjusts with inflation to recover costs. • Additional financing would be needed if the community wishes to increase the service level to paid staff. • As new financing sources to will be distributed based on calls and population, LFPD will receive minimal additional revenues. The District hopes to pool those resources with AFPD to provide paid fire coverage of a station. STATUS OF, AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR, SHARED FACILITIES • LFPD collaborates with other fire providers in the County, providing and receiving automatic and mutual aid and through the AFPA. • The District makes its station available for various community events, and would like to operate as an emergency shelter for the area as well. ACCOUNTABILITY, GOVERNANCE AND EFFICIENCIES • The District demonstrates a high degree of public participation in elections special events, although public interest in the governing body could be improved as indicated by a lack of contested electionsas well as other forms of participation, including special events. • The District appears to operate in an open manner that facilitates the public’s ability to learn about and participate in District affairs. • A potential governmental structure option is the consolidation of LFPD with AFPD. PINE ACRES COMMUNITY SERVICES DISTRICT GROWTH AND POPULATION PROJECTIONS • There has been no recent growth in the District, and there are few open parcels for potential development with District bounds. 42 PREPARED FOR AMADOR LAFCO MSR DETERMINATIONS CAPACITY, INFRASTRUCTURE NEEDS AND SERVICE ADEQUACY • Present and planned capacity of public facilities is sufficient, and service provision is adequate, as the District has resurfaced all paved roads (in the road improvement zones) within the last three to four years. • All paved roads are reported to be in excellent condition, and the District did not report any infrastructure needs or deficiencies. • Some roads in the improvement zones are not yet paved, as the homeowners in that zone have chosen not to pay for paving. FINANCIAL ABILITY OF AGENCIES TO PROVIDE SERVICES • The current financing level is adequate to deliver road maintenance services; however, the District reports that it lacks the resources to hire a general manger. STATUS OF, AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR, SHARED FACILITIES • The District does not presently share facilities, and no such opportunities were identified. ACCOUNTABILITY, GOVERNANCE AND EFFICIENCIES • The District is not authorized to perform CC&R oversight. • The District lacks a general manager, as required by law, to implement board policies; however, the District reports that all decisions relating to the district are made by the PACSD board and the property owners through the road improvement zones. • No government structure options are apparent, as there are no other road maintenance districts adjacent to PACSD. District maintained roads do not meet the design standards to be accepted into the County’s public road system. • Operational efficiencies are achieved through the use of volunteer staffing for brush removal and clean up services. PINE GROVE COMMUNITY SERVICES DISTRICT GROWTH AND POPULATION PROJECTIONS • Service demand has increased with development, as many property owners have split their five-acre parcels into four separate lots. For planning purposes, PGCSD assumes three percent growth annually to forecast service needs. BY BURR CONSULTING 43 AMADOR COUNTY MSR: EXHIBIT A – PUBLIC REVIEW DRAFT • Growth within the District is expected to continue as planned developments totaling 86 dwelling units and 10 commercial units begin construction. In addition, the District hopes to serve three planned or proposed residential developments located outside of but adjacent to its bounds. CAPACITY, INFRASTRUCTURE NEEDS AND SERVICE ADEQUACY • The District’s park is well maintained with no maintenance deficiencies. The District plans to make landscaping improvements and expand the park as allowed by funding. • The District’s current developed parkland ratio to residents is less than the countywide average and proposed ACRA ratio. The District plans to expand the park to meet additional capacity needs. Additional community park service needs will be addressed by an ACRA operated community park. • Water infrastructure needs include improved water pressure for fire flow and replacement of undersized four and six-inch mains. • The District should consider an overall assessment of the system to determine the maximum capacity of the existing system and any necessary improvements or capacity expansions to accommodate the anticipated significant increase in demand. FINANCIAL ABILITY OF AGENCIES TO PROVIDE SERVICES • The District reported that existing financing sources are sufficient to deliver adequate services, but indicated that it has challenges keeping up with AWA rate increases. In addition, the District shares its building with AFPD and American Legion Ambulance, and the District rents out space for a cellular tower. • PGCSD rates are the third highest among Amador County water purveyors, and were recently increased. STATUS OF, AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR, SHARED FACILITIES • PGCSD relies on AWA for treatment and transmission of treated water through AWA facilities. • No future opportunities for facility sharing were identified. ACCOUNTABILITY, GOVERNANCE AND EFFICIENCIES • PGCSD has not had sufficient governing body interest to hold occasional contested elections in recent years. • The District conducts significant outreach efforts to inform constituents of ongoing issues through a regular newsletter, mailings with bills and a website. 44 PREPARED FOR AMADOR LAFCO MSR DETERMINATIONS • A government structure option is the annexation of the three proposed developments to the southeast of the District where it hopes to provide water service. RABB PARK COMMUNITY SERVICES DISTRICT GROWTH AND POPULATION PROJECTIONS • There has been significant growth in the District over the last several decades. • Future growth is expected to be limited, as there are no proposed or planned developments. However, some growth is anticipated, as there are 30 undeveloped lots within the District. CAPACITY, INFRASTRUCTURE NEEDS AND SERVICE ADEQUACY • Approximately one mile of distribution pipes are undersized, and need to be replaced to improve water pressure and fire flow. • The District appears to have adequate storage capacity. One of its two storage tanks is in fair to poor condition, and needs replacement. The District reported a need to replace the storage tank and expand storage capacity. • The District should perform an evaluation of the entire system to prioritize replacement. • District planning efforts are inadequate, and do not meet state standards for technical, managerial and financial ability. The District has not prepared a master plan or capital improvement plan. • The District lacks a general manager, as required by law, to implement board policies. FINANCIAL ABILITY OF AGENCIES TO PROVIDE SERVICES • The existing rate structure does not provide for capital costs associated with ongoing capital replacement needs. • District water rates are comparable to other Amador County water purveyors, but have not been increased in four years. The District could improve its financial ability by periodically evaluating rates and structuring inflation-triggered rate increases. STATUS OF, AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR, SHARED FACILITIES • The District relies on AWA for treatment and transmission of treated water through AWA facilities. • There is an opportunity for the District to share additional resources with AWA through the consolidation government structure option. BY BURR CONSULTING 45 AMADOR COUNTY MSR: EXHIBIT A – PUBLIC REVIEW DRAFT ACCOUNTABILITY, GOVERNANCE AND EFFICIENCIES • Accountability to local voters is constrained by a lack of contested elections. Improvements to accountability could be made by emphasizing public outreach activities and promoting interest in participation on the governing body. • The District has faced challenges in the past in providing adequate services. The District is considering consolidation with AWA in order to increase service levels. RANCH HOUSE ESTATES COMMUNITY SERVICES DISTRICT GROWTH AND POPULATION PROJECTIONS • There has been no growth within the District as the area is entirely built-out. No future growth is anticipated. CAPACITY, INFRASTRUCTURE NEEDS AND SERVICE ADEQUACY • Present and planned capacity of public facilities is sufficient, and service provision is adequate, as the District has chip-sealed all roads within the last five years. • All roads are reported as being in good to excellent condition, and the District did not identify any infrastructure needs. FINANCIAL ABILITY OF AGENCIES TO PROVIDE SERVICES • The District reports that its current financing level is adequate to deliver services. Current financial levels have allowed the District to provide regular road maintenance and keep roads in good condition. STATUS OF, AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR, SHARED FACILITIES • The District does not currently share facilities and did not identify any opportunities for shared facilities. ACCOUNTABILITY, GOVERNANCE AND EFFICIENCIES • Accountability to local voters is constrained by a lack of members on the board of directors, not having a designated president or vice-president on the board, and not meeting at least once every three months. The District also lacks a general manager to implement board policies. • The District has tried to fill board vacancies by posting notices on the community bulletin board, but reports that community interest in serving on the board is low. 46 PREPARED FOR AMADOR LAFCO MSR DETERMINATIONS • No alternative government structure options are apparent, as there are no other road maintenance districts adjacent to RHECSD, and the roads do not meet the design standards to be accepted into the County’s public road system. RIDGEWOOD ACRES COMMUNITY SERVICES DISTRICT GROWTH AND POPULATION PROJECTIONS • There has been no growth within the District since 1962 and no future growth is anticipated. CAPACITY, INFRASTRUCTURE NEEDS AND SERVICE ADEQUACY • Present and planned capacity of public facilities is sufficient, and service provision is adequate, as the District chipseals its roadway every six to seven years. • The District reports that the roadway is in good to excellent condition, as it was chipsealed most recently in 2007. The District anticipates that no major maintenance will be needed until 2013 or 2014. FINANCIAL ABILITY OF AGENCIES TO PROVIDE SERVICES • The District reported that the current level of financing will not be sufficient to perform future maintenance due to increased costs. • Residents were not receptive to a District-proposed assessment increase in August 2007. STATUS OF, AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR, SHARED FACILITIES • The District did not report any current or possible shared facilities. ACCOUNTABILITY, GOVERNANCE AND EFFICIENCIES • The District lacks a general manager to implement board policies. • Operational efficiencies are achieved by the use of volunteers to trim trees and clear brush. • The District is amenable to consolidation with other local street maintenance providers or dissolution with the transfer of services to the County. 1 No alternative government 1 Interview with Tim Sammons, January 21, 2008. BY BURR CONSULTING 47 AMADOR COUNTY MSR: EXHIBIT A – PUBLIC REVIEW DRAFT structure options are apparent, however, as there are no other road maintenance districts adjacent to RACSD, and the roadway does not meet the design standards to be accepted into the County’s public road system. RIVER PINES PUBLIC UTILITY DISTRICT GROWTH AND POPULATION PROJECTIONS • The District has experienced minimal growth in recent years. Water demand has declined since its peak in 2001, apparently due to increased water conservation. • Future growth consists of infill opportunities on vacant parcels. There were 85 standby accounts within District bounds in early 2008 and another five standby accounts outside bounds. • The District reported that it is concerned about expanding its service area because facilities are undersized for serving the existing customer base; however, the District is open to considering proposals to expand its service area when new development absorbs all costs of infrastructure extension and expansion. CAPACITY, INFRASTRUCTURE NEEDS AND SERVICE ADEQUACY • RPPUD needs to install a flow meter downstream of the diversion point to comply with its water rights permit. The RPPUD surface water treatment facility needs various improvements and upgrades. Iron water mains are corroded and undersized, and need replacement. Older distribution lines are in poor condition and need to be replaced. Fire flow is deficient; modeling is needed to identify capital needs and costs. The District lacks basic equipment, such as a backhoe, and needs to acquire it and/or share such equipment with neighboring providers. • Existing water storage capacity is inadequate, meeting less than one day of peak demand in spite of a lack of interties connecting the community to other water systems. Storage tanks are in poor condition; the Circle Ave. storage tank needs to be replaced with a tank with 0.2- 0.25 mg capacity. Storage tanks have not been inspected in 8-10 years, and need regular inspection. • The District faces challenges in delivering adequate water services. Past regulatory violations and evaluations reveal poorly operated water services, and failure to keep storage facilities filled with potable water reserves. • District planning efforts are inadequate, and do not meet state standards for technical, managerial and financial ability. Although the regulatory agency identified a need for the District to develop a water capacity evaluation, capital improvement plan or prioritized list of infrastructure needs, and growth projections in 1999, such plans have not been developed to date. 48 PREPARED FOR AMADOR LAFCO MSR DETERMINATIONS • The District should perform an evaluation of the entire water system to prioritize capital replacement needs and establish appropriate rates. • The District has adequate wastewater treatment and disposal capacity to meet existing and projected demand. • Treatment ponds and sprayfields are in good condition, but need spare aerator motors and improved rodent and vegetation control. • The wastewater collection system is 23 years old, and is not regularly inspected due to lack of qualified personnel, lack of equipment and financing constraints. RPPUD contracts with AWA for collection system maintenance. The District needs a SCADA system with autodialers to alert personnel to lift station failures. • The District appears to provide adequate wastewater services based on its overflow rate, response times, and compliance record. However, the District is not proactive with respect to collection system maintenance, lacks basic information and tools related to its collection system, and has not begun to implement new regulatory requirements for the collection system. Staff training or increased funding of the AWA services contract is needed to provide adequate wastewater collection services. FINANCIAL ABILITY OF AGENCIES TO PROVIDE SERVICES • The current rate structure does not appear to finance adequate service levels. The District faces challenges in regulatory compliance. The District has not prepared a capital improvement plan, established a capital replacement fund or evaluated suspected infrastructure needs. • Rates have not been increased in several years, and need to be evaluated. • Financial reserves were inadequate, as indicated by the District’s emergency cash flow and related borrowing needs in FY 07-08. STATUS OF, AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR, SHARED FACILITIES • The District contracts with AWA for emergency and technical services. • The District identified opportunities to share equipment with nearby service providers in El Dorado County. ACCOUNTABILITY, GOVERNANCE AND EFFICIENCIES • The District demonstrated accountability in that there is adequate interest in its governing body to provide for contested elections. Outreach efforts are typically informal and minimal. The District’s transparency to the public is limited by a lack of planning documents. Improvements to accountability could be made by emphasizing public outreach activities and planning efforts. BY BURR CONSULTING 49 AMADOR COUNTY MSR: EXHIBIT A – PUBLIC REVIEW DRAFT • The District serves connections outside its bounds in El Dorado County. A government structure option is annexation of the area served outside bounds. • The Amador County Grand Jury recommended annexing nearby residences to extend sewer services, and reduce septic contamination in water supplies per District ordinance 02-004. The District has not expressed interest in this governance option. • The District has faced challenges in the past in regulatory compliance and providing adequate services. The District is not interested in dissolution, as it wishes to retain local control over water and wastewater services. SUNSET HEIGHTS COMMUNITY SERVICES DISTRICT GROWTH AND POPULATION PROJECTIONS • There has been no recent growth within the District, and minimal future growth is anticipated. One resident plans to subdivide his 37-acre parcel to add four homes, although this is not anticipated to occur until 2013 at the earliest. CAPACITY, INFRASTRUCTURE NEEDS AND SERVICE ADEQUACY • Present and planned capacity of public facilities is sufficient, and service provision is adequate, as the District has performed all needed maintenance on the roadways. • The District reports that all paved roadway segments are in good condition, and there are no major infrastructure needs or deficiencies. Sunset Road East (a dirt road for fire access) is scheduled to be paved by 2017. FINANCIAL ABILITY OF AGENCIES TO PROVIDE SERVICES • The District has the financial ability to deliver services, having recently increased its road assessment and indexed future increases to inflation. • The District is concerned about the impact of escalating oil costs on paving costs. If paving costs increase faster than inflation, the District may need to increase assessments in the future to maintain service levels. • The District has planned for all financial expenses through 2026 in its CIP. STATUS OF, AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR, SHARED FACILITIES • SHCSD does not share facilities and did not identify any opportunities. 50 PREPARED FOR AMADOR LAFCO MSR DETERMINATIONS ACCOUNTABILITY, GOVERNANCE AND EFFICIENCIES • The District reported that two properties east of Marc Drive were “annexed” to the District; however, LAFCO has no record of this action. Absent a formal LAFCO proceeding, these parcels are not within the boundary. The District reports that these two properties currently pay assessments for road maintenance, and have paid assessments since formation of the CSD. A search of the LAFCO archives confirmed that LAFCO has no record of these parcels being annexed to the District. A recommended government structure option is to have these parcels officially annexed to the District by LAFCO. • The District lacks a general manager, as required by law, to implement board policies. • Roadway drainage maintenance is performed on a volunteer basis. All property owners are encouraged to clean ditches along their own properties, and additional maintenance is performed by a member of the Board of Directors as needed. SUTTER CREEK FIRE PROTECTION DISTRICT GROWTH AND POPULATION PROJECTIONS • The population within the District’s boundary grew 27 percent between 2000 and 2007, much higher than the countywide average. The District’s service area experienced significant growth with the recent development of the Martell retail development. • Service demand is anticipated to continue to increase due to the planned and proposed developments in and around Sutter Creek and the continued commercial development in Martell. CAPACITY, INFRASTRUCTURE NEEDS AND SERVICE ADEQUACY • The District’s current facilities have sufficient capacity to serve current demand. The District does not have the capacity to serve future growth with existing fire stations and financial resources. • Given the significant level of growth and increased demand experienced by the District, the District should consider adopting a master plan to plan for needs for future service and a capital improvement plan to identify financing needs and sources for those needs. • SCFPD could improve its Firefighter I certification rate of 21 percent. • The District identified a need for a new station to replace an existing station in poor condition, as well as several new vehicles. However, the District does not have plans to address these needs in the near future due to financing constraints. BY BURR CONSULTING 51 AMADOR COUNTY MSR: EXHIBIT A – PUBLIC REVIEW DRAFT FINANCIAL ABILITY OF AGENCIES TO PROVIDE SERVICES • The District reports that current financing levels are not adequate to deliver services currently, and would not accommodate projected increases in service demand. SCFPD is considering financing mechanisms to improve fire protection service levels in collaboration with AFPA. Formatted: Bullets and Numbering •The District’s development impact fee was last updated in 1998. The City of Sutter Creek is in the process of updating the fee. The fee is currently second lowest among the fire providers lowest among the fire providers in the County. STATUS OF, AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR, SHARED FACILITIES • SCFPD shares its stations with outside organizations for classes and elections. • SCFPD collaborates with other fire providers in the County, providing and receiving automatic and mutual aid and as a member of AFPA. • Consolidation with other fire districts, such as Jackson FD and AFPD, offers opportunities for shared resources as well as pooled finances to hire full-time staff. ACCOUNTABILITY, GOVERNANCE AND EFFICIENCIES • Consolidation of SCFPD with Jackson FD and AFPD is a governance option that is under consideration by the affected agencies. TOWNSHIP NUMBER TWO PUBLIC CEMETERY DISTRICT GROWTH AND POPULATION PROJECTIONS • There has been moderate growth in Ione and unincorporated areas in the District. Significant growth is anticipated as planned and proposed developments in and around Ione are approved and begin construction. CAPACITY, INFRASTRUCTURE NEEDS AND SERVICE ADEQUACY • Cemetery facilities appear to be in fair to good condition. The District reported that it is in need of a new storage building. • The District reported that there are approximately 25 years of capacity left between the two cemetery facilities. 52 PREPARED FOR AMADOR LAFCO MSR DETERMINATIONS FINANCIAL ABILITY OF AGENCIES TO PROVIDE SERVICES • TPCD reports that current financing is sufficient to deliver services; however, the District does not have a non-resident fee or an endowment fund (to ensure funding for perpetual care of the cemetery), both required by law. The District should implement a non-resident fee and establish an endowment fund as soon as practical to comply with the law. STATUS OF, AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR, SHARED FACILITIES • The District shares facilities in that it operates and maintains the Sacred Heart Catholic Cemetery, which is owned by the Catholic Church. • No regional collaboration or opportunities for shared facilities were identified. ACCOUNTABILITY, GOVERNANCE AND EFFICIENCIES • Accountability to local residents is constrained by missing and incomplete historical records maintained by the District. The cemetery catalog is incomplete, but the District has made an effort to reconstruct the catalog with records on hand. • TPCD demonstrated accountability and transparency by disclosing financial and service related information in response to LAFCO requests. • This review identified at least four areas—endowment care fund, non-resident fees, interment eligibility policies, and record-keeping—in which the District was not in compliance with current law. The District needs to make efforts to inform itself of current law, and will likely need to retain an attorney to ensure that it establishes the endowment care fund correctly. • The District would benefit from joining the Cemetery Districts Association, and networking with cemetery district managers or board members in neighboring counties, to further its knowledge of requirements and best practices. • Operational efficiencies have been achieved by using probationers to perform maintenance at the cemetery facilities. • No governmental structure options were identified. VOLCANO COMMUNITY SERVICES DISTRICT GROWTH AND POPULATION PROJECTIONS • Growth has been modest in recent years, with a corresponding increase in service demand for water services. BY BURR CONSULTING 53 AMADOR COUNTY MSR: EXHIBIT A – PUBLIC REVIEW DRAFT • Future growth is expected to be modest. There are 14 developable lots within District bounds. • Growth is currently constrained by a moratorium on new water connections pending a water availability study. While there are no major planned or proposed developments within or adjacent to the District, there is a waiting list of property owners for new water connections. CAPACITY, INFRASTRUCTURE NEEDS AND SERVICE ADEQUACY • The District’s primary water source yield has declined over the years, and groundwater wells in the area have low yields. The District needs to conduct an evaluation of safe yield of its water sources, which it is doing in 2008. • There are potentially water treatment plant needs, including upgrade of the filtration system, to be addressed upon completion of the water supply study. Shut-off valves need to be replaced and added. • The District faces challenges in delivering adequate water services. Past regulatory violations reveal a need to improve service levels. • District water planning efforts are inadequate, and do not meet state standards for technical, managerial and financial ability. The District could make improvements by completing a water capacity evaluation, and by preparing a capital improvement plan or prioritized list of infrastructure needs. • Burials have occurred at the cemetery despite the District’s lack of authorization to provide cemetery services. The District reports that it does not know how burials occur. • The cemetery lacks adequate capacity for burial of existing and future residents. Although approximately 50 plots may be available, the District is not selling plots presently nor is it committing the remaining capacity to existing residents. District policy is to prioritize allocations to residents of remaining plots. FINANCIAL ABILITY OF AGENCIES TO PROVIDE SERVICES • VCSD reports that financing is sufficient to deliver the current service level. The District relies on donations to fund recreation services. • The District’s water rates do not include capital replacement costs, which have been primarily funded by grants from State agencies over the years. Connection fees would need to be updated to serve additional connections in the future. • The District does not sell cemetery plots, and could better provide for future maintenance and inventory plots by establishing fees for plot sales. 54 PREPARED FOR AMADOR LAFCO MSR DETERMINATIONS STATUS OF, AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR, SHARED FACILITIES • The District contracts with AWA for water maintenance services. • No opportunities for shared water or cemetery facilities were identified. Anticipated development of a large park in Pine Grove could serve the Volcano resident’s facility needs as well. ACCOUNTABILITY, GOVERNANCE AND EFFICIENCIES • A government structure option is annexation of present and potential service areas located outside District bounds. The District serves water outside its bounds to four connections on Main Street, has three inactive connections outside bounds, and one property outside bounds is on a waiting list for District water service. • The District should seek to clarify its authorization to perform cemetery services, and resolve outstanding legal and regulatory issues related to cemetery services. • The District would benefit from joining the Cemetery Districts Association, and networking with cemetery district managers or board members in neighboring counties, to further its knowledge of requirements and best practices. WILLOW SPRINGS WATER DISTRICT CAPACITY, INFRASTRUCTURE NEEDS AND SERVICE ADEQUACY • The District lacks the capacity to provide services. The District did not identify any infrastructure or water rights owned by the District. The District formerly diverted water from Arroyo Ditch; however, there are no longer flows through Arroyo Ditch during irrigation season. • The District lacks planned capacity to provide services. There are no planned or funded capital projects that would convey water to the Willow Springs area. ACCOUNTABILITY, GOVERNANCE AND EFFICIENCIES • WSWD is an inactive agency that has not been dissolved by LAFCO. Dissolution of this inactive agency is the logical government structure option. The Cortese-Knox-Hertzberg Act provides for streamlined dissolution of agencies for failure to exercise corporate powers. BY BURR CONSULTING 55 AMADOR COUNTY MSR: EXHIBIT A – PUBLIC REVIEW DRAFT COUNTY SERVICE AREA 1 GROWTH AND POPULATION PROJECTIONS • Residential growth has been limited to individual residential building activities in recent years. Any future development is not projected to impact the demand for CSA 1 services. CAPACITY, INFRASTRUCTURE NEEDS AND SERVICE ADEQUACY • The CSA services are adequate as a financing mechanism for fire services. • As the CSA does not own or operate any infrastructure, no needs or deficiencies were identified. FINANCIAL ABILITY OF AGENCIES TO PROVIDE SERVICES • The County reported that the portion of property taxes allocated to AFPD through the CSA is minimal and not a significant source of funding for the AFPD. STATUS OF, AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR, SHARED FACILITIES • CSA 1 engages in joint financing arrangements related to staffing and facility sharing for administrative purposes. • No facility sharing opportunities were identified. ACCOUNTABILITY, GOVERNANCE AND EFFICIENCIES • The County demonstrated accountability and transparency by disclosing financial and service related information related to CSA 1 in response to LAFCO requests. • A possible government structure option includes the transfer of the CSAs property tax allocation to AFPD and dissolution of the CSA. COUNTY SERVICE AREA 2 ACCOUNTABILITY, GOVERNANCE AND EFFICIENCIES • CSA 2 is an inactive agency that has not provided services since October 2003. Dissolution of this inactive agency is the logical government structure option. 56 PREPARED FOR AMADOR LAFCO MSR DETERMINATIONS COUNTY SERVICE AREA 3 GROWTH AND POPULATION PROJECTIONS • Residential growth in within CSA 3 has been limited in recent years. Any future development is not projected to impact the demand for CSA 3 services. CAPACITY, INFRASTRUCTURE NEEDS AND SERVICE ADEQUACY • The CSA services are adequate as it continues to make regular bond payments and anticipates completion of the payments in 2016. • As the CSA does not own or operate any infrastructure, no needs or deficiencies were identified. FINANCIAL ABILITY OF AGENCIES TO PROVIDE SERVICES • The CSA reported that current assessments are sufficient to complete bond repayment on the anticipated timeline. STATUS OF, AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR, SHARED FACILITIES • CSA 3 engages in joint financing arrangements related to staffing and facility sharing for administrative purposes. • No facility sharing opportunities were identified. ACCOUNTABILITY, GOVERNANCE AND EFFICIENCIES • The County demonstrated accountability and transparency by disclosing financial and service related information related to CSA 3 in response to LAFCO requests. • No government structure options were identified. COUNTY SERVICE AREA 4 GROWTH AND POPULATION PROJECTIONS • Commercial growth within the CSA has been significant in recent years. • Service demand will likely increase in future years due to the various planned and proposed developments located within unincorporated portions of the County. BY BURR CONSULTING 57 AMADOR COUNTY MSR: EXHIBIT A – PUBLIC REVIEW DRAFT CAPACITY, INFRASTRUCTURE NEEDS AND SERVICE ADEQUACY • Specific infrastructure needs and deficiencies were not identified by the County; however, it anticipates that current and future drainage needs in the area will be addressed by developers. • Drainage services have not been provided since 2003. FINANCIAL ABILITY OF AGENCIES TO PROVIDE SERVICES • While the CSA currently possesses a fund balance, it does not have a revenue source to provide continued regular drainage maintenance services. STATUS OF, AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR, SHARED FACILITIES • CSA 4 engages in joint financing arrangements related to staffing, and facility sharing for drainage maintenance services and administrative purposes, as it is managed by the Public Works Department. • No facility sharing opportunities were identified. ACCOUNTABILITY, GOVERNANCE AND EFFICIENCIES • The County demonstrated accountability and transparency by disclosing financial and service related information related to CSA 4 in response to LAFCO requests. • Operational efficiencies are achieved by having Public Works manage the CSA because the CSA Coordinator is also the Public Works Director. • CSA 4 is an inactive agency that has not provided services since 2003. Dissolution of this inactive agency is a government structure option, after the account balance has been depleted. COUNTY SERVICE AREA 5 GROWTH AND POPULATION PROJECTIONS • Growth within the CSA has been moderate, consistent with population growth in the unincorporated portions of Amador County. • Service demand will likely increase in future years due to the various planned and proposed developments located within unincorporated portions of the County. Service demand will increase over time as the roads wear out. 58 PREPARED FOR AMADOR LAFCO MSR DETERMINATIONS CAPACITY, INFRASTRUCTURE NEEDS AND SERVICE ADEQUACY • Present and planned capacity of public facilities is sufficient, and service provision within CSA 5 zones of benefit is adequate. • Public Works did not identify any infrastructure needs for roadways maintained by the CSA. FINANCIAL ABILITY OF AGENCIES TO PROVIDE SERVICES • Public Works indicated that current financing is adequate to deliver services, and assessments paid to the CSA increase with inflation. Current financing levels have allowed the CSA to provide regular maintenance to roadways in all zones of benefit. • The CSA has sufficient financial reserves to perform major maintenance activities as needed. STATUS OF, AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR, SHARED FACILITIES • CSA 5 engages in joint financing arrangements related to staffing, and facility sharing for street maintenance services and administrative purposes, as it is managed by the Public Works Department. • No facility sharing opportunities were identified. ACCOUNTABILITY, GOVERNANCE AND EFFICIENCIES • Accountability for community services needs is achieved by allowing property owners within a zone of benefit to directly request services or capital projects and to participate in advisory committees for each zone of benefit. • Operational efficiencies are achieved by having Public Works manage the CSA because the CSA Coordinator is also the Public Works Director. • No governmental structure options were identified. COUNTY SERVICE AREA 6 GROWTH AND POPULATION PROJECTIONS • Growth within the CSA has been moderate, consistent with population growth in the unincorporated portions of Amador County. • Service demand will likely increase in future years due to additional regulations regarding on- site sewage treatment systems and growth in the number of systems. BY BURR CONSULTING 59 AMADOR COUNTY MSR: EXHIBIT A – PUBLIC REVIEW DRAFT CAPACITY, INFRASTRUCTURE NEEDS AND SERVICE ADEQUACY • The CSA does not own or maintain any infrastructure; hence, present and planned capacity of public facilities is adequate and there are no infrastructure deficiencies. FINANCIAL ABILITY OF AGENCIES TO PROVIDE SERVICES • Current financing levels may be adequate as are result of the 2006 assessment increase; however, the assessment amount does not increase with inflation. • Revenues will increase as additional systems are added which require monitoring. STATUS OF, AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR, SHARED FACILITIES • Amador County DEH manages the CSA and performs testing on the septic systems that are subject to monitoring. • Staffing, administration and facilities are shared with Amador County. • No additional opportunities for shared facilities were identified. ACCOUNTABILITY, GOVERNANCE AND EFFICIENCIES • Accountability for community service needs is achieved by allowing the public access to inspection records located in the assessor’s parcel file for each property inspected. • Operational efficiencies are achieved by having DEH manage the CSA and ensure reliability of tests. COUNTY SERVICE AREA 7 ACCOUNTABILITY, GOVERNANCE AND EFFICIENCIES • CSA 7 has been inactive since formation. Dissolution of this inactive agency is the logical government structure option. COUNTY SERVICE AREA 8 GROWTH AND POPULATION PROJECTIONS • There has been no growth within the CSA in the last five years as no additional businesses have moved into the park area. There is no residential population within the CSA. 60 PREPARED FOR AMADOR LAFCO MSR DETERMINATIONS • No growth is anticipated within the CSA as no new commercial activities are currently planned to locate at the Carbondale Industrial Park. CAPACITY, INFRASTRUCTURE NEEDS AND SERVICE ADEQUACY • The CSA is not currently providing services to the Carbondale Industrial Park area. • Due to the limited commercial activity at the industrial park, present and planned capacity of facilities is deemed to be adequate. • No infrastructure needs or deficiencies were identified by the CSA Coordinator. FINANCIAL ABILITY OF AGENCIES TO PROVIDE SERVICES • As the CSA is not presently providing services, the financial ability of the CSA to provide service is not an issue under present conditions. In the future, if additional businesses locate to the industrial park and the CSA is called upon to provide services, appropriate financial vehicles will be needed to fund the desired services. STATUS OF, AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR, SHARED FACILITIES • Facilities are shared through management of the CSA by the County GSA. • No additional opportunities for shared facilities were identified. ACCOUNTABILITY, GOVERNANCE AND EFFICIENCIES • As the CSA is not currently providing services, accountability is limited. • Operational efficiencies are achieved by having the property manager of the industrial park serve as CSA Coordinator. • No government structure options for CSA 8 were identified. BY BURR CONSULTING 61